On 1 May, the UK House of Commons backed an amendment to the anti-money laundering bill, meaning British Overseas Territories (BOTs) must introduce public registers that disclose who owns the assets in companies registered in each jurisdiction.
A similar second amendment had also been tabled last week that would have forced the crown dependencies of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey to also introduce public registers of beneficial owners.
However, this amendment was withdrawn just hours before the House of Commons voted on updating the bill.
A breach of constitution
Now the Chief Minister of Isle of Man Howard Quayle has said the amendment was withdrawn as it was in direct conflict to the constitutional agreement between the Crown dependencies and the UK Government.
“The amendment overlooked that our constitutional relationship with the UK as Crown dependency is through Her Majesty the Queen. It is not enshrined in a formal constitutional document.
“We do of course acknowledge that Her Majesty’s Government is responsible for our defence and formal external relations by virtue of this relationship to the Crown.
“Fundamental to our constitutional relationship with the UK is the mutual recognition of the principle that the UK Parliament does not legislate for us without our consent,” Quayle said.
‘By all means necessary’
If the amendment had been imposed, Quayle said the the Isle of Man would have been left with no other option but to “vigorously challenge the outcome by all means necessary”.
“We, together with our fellow Crown dependencies, were very keen to avoid any constitutional crisis. We therefore took considerable measures to work with the UK Government and a number of others, to ensure our constitutional position was clearly understood.
“The period of intense activity between the amendments being released on 26 April to the Report Stage on 1 May cannot be understated but proved invaluable to securing the withdrawal of New Clause 14 [the amendment],” he said.
An international standard
Quayle further said the Isle of Man has “consistently complied” with international standards and has its own “robust systems” in place to tackle tax evasion, money laundering and other financial crime.
“In common with almost all other jurisdictions across the world that have such registers, other than the UK, this information is available to relevant authorities, rather than to the public at large,” Quayle said.
