英屬維京群島（BVI）金融監管機構宣布，自2025年1月2日起，其公司事務登記處將為所有註冊的BVI商業公司和有限合夥企業保留受益所有權登記冊。
登記處設立了一個新的受益所有權單位，負責處理所有受益所有權交易的接收和驗證。資訊將透過金融服務委員會的平台提交。2025年7月2日之前，現有實體無需支付服務費用。
確保直接由公共機構維護受益所有權資訊是金融行動特別工作組（FATF）加勒比海分支機構要求的20項優先行動之一。FATF於2024年2月發布了對英屬維爾京群島反洗錢控制措施的審查。
根據2024年英屬維京群島商業公司和有限合夥企業（受益所有權）條例，提交受益所有權資訊的指南正在制定中。
儘管英屬維京群島於2023年12月宣布不再計劃全面開放登記冊，但尚未明確向公眾表示開放受益所有權資訊的程度。相反，它將應用合法利益測試來決定是否發布資訊。
BVI to launch beneficial ownership register in 2025
The British Virgin Islands' (BVI’s) financial regulator has announced that its registry of corporate affairs will maintain registers of beneficial ownership for all registered BVI business companies and limited partnerships from 2 January 2025.
A new beneficial ownership unit has been set up within the registry to handle the receipt and verification of all beneficial ownership transactions. Information will be filed through the Financial Services Commission’s platform. Existing entities will not be charged for the service until 2 July 2025.
Ensuring that maintenance of beneficial ownership information is directly with a public authority was one of the 20 priority actions required by the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF’s) Caribbean branch. FATF published its review of the BVI's anti-money laundering controls in February 2024. FATF considers this structure to be essential if competent authorities are to be able to obtain adequate, accurate, and current basic and beneficial ownership information in a timely manner.
Guidance on the filing of beneficial ownership information under the BVI Business Companies and Limited Partnership (Beneficial Ownership) Regulations 2024 is being prepared.
The BVI has not yet made clear the extent to which it will open beneficial ownership information to the public, although it announced in December 2023 that it no longer plans to make the register fully available. Instead, it will apply a legitimate interest test to decide whether to release information.
Sources:
• BVI Financial Services Commission (PDF)
• BVI government (March 2024)
• BVI government (December 2023)