Overseas territories furious at UK’s ‘colonial era’ register
By Tom Carnegie, 2 May 18
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) have slammed the UK Government for trying to force public registers of beneficial owners on the jurisdictions, describing it as an act of “constitutional overreach” and an “unacceptable act of modern colonialism”.
Premier McLaughlin said his government is “deeply aggrieved” by the acceptance of the amendment by the UK Government.
McLaughlin said the UK imposing powers through legislation “dates back to the colonial era” and represents a “gross affront to the constitutional relationship we currently have with the UK”.
“Further, imposing such an obligation on the overseas territories while exempting the crown dependencies discriminates unfairly against the overseas territories.
“This amendment is based solely on prejudice and a wilful misunderstanding of our current regulatory framework.”
The minister for financial services, Tara Rivers, added: “Even more unfortunate, [Tuesday’s] actions indicate that, for political expediency, the UK has chosen to ignore Cayman’s high level of ongoing cooperation which is embedded in our laws and international agreements.
“Indeed, verified beneficial ownership information on Cayman structures has been available to the UK’s legal, regulatory and tax authorities for more than 15 years, and our agreement on the sharing of information with the United Kingdom authorities is of such strength that we have committed to reporting within 24 hours, or within one hour in the case of a truly emergent situation,” Rivers said.
Legal challenge
McLaughlin said the island is keeping its options open and is considering a legal challenge to the amendment.
“The Cayman Islands has its own democratically elected government and is not represented in the UK parliament.
The actions of the House of Commons in seeking to legislate for the Cayman Islands amount to constitutional overreach and are reminiscent of the worst injustices of a bygone era of colonial despotism,” he said.
Tags: British Overseas Territories | Crown Dependencies | Public Register
