Cayman: Premier Rejects UK Request for BO Information by Mossack Fonseca
Alden McLaughlin, the premier of the Cayman Islands, has denied the UK’s request for direct access by its law enforcement agencies to beneficial ownership (BO) information in the Cayman Islands.
Premier McLaughlin indicated in his 26 November 2015 Premier's Statement on Beneficial Ownership: “The information concerned does not belong to the Cayman Islands Government. It is the property of the owners of the respective legal entities. Further, as far as we are aware, there is no country in the world that allows unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information by the law enforcement agencies of another country”.
The Premier made it clear that there is already an effective process that allows overseas law enforcement authorities to access beneficial ownership information. He stated that the process is carefully administered to ensure legality, accuracy, and compliance with existing global standards.
The Premier summarized his statement as follows:
We will not agree to a public register unless and until that becomes the global standard and all of our competitors also subscribe to that standard.
We will not agree to unfettered access to Cayman Islands beneficial ownership information by external law enforcement, tax or regulatory authorities. Requests for such information must continue to meet established criteria and be dealt with by the relevant Cayman Islands authorities established for that purpose and approved as being in accordance with global standards.
Source: Cayman Islands Government: Premier's Statement
