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Anguilla: Companies

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN 200172, tabled on 19 September 2023

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Anguilla's implementation of publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership in line with the Draft Order in Council prepared by the Secretary of State to comply with the requirement under section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; whether the Territory has (a) introduced and (b) passed the legislation required for the creation of a publicly accessible register of company beneficial ownership; whether the register will be (i) open and (ii) free at point of access; and when the register will be (A) live and (B) operational.

Answered on

23 October 2023

The Government of Anguilla (GoA) shares confidential information on company beneficial ownership with UK law enforcement under the Exchange of Notes Arrangements. It has also committed to introduce a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership (PARBO).

The GoA has passed the relevant primary legislation, and enacted the majority of secondary legislation, required for the creation of a PARBO that would comply with the standards set out in a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS369) of 14 December 2020. How Anguilla seeks to recoup the costs of operating its PARBO will be a matter for the Territory Government.

The GoA is assessing its timeline for implementation in light of the November 2022 Court of Justice of the European Union judgment. The UK Government is engaging GoA on the issues raised by that judgment and providing technical assistance, most recently at the UK-OT Beneficial Ownership Transparency Technical Working Group on 10 October. We will confirm the timeline with Anguilla and other Overseas Territories at the Joint Ministerial Council scheduled for 14-15 November.