開曼政府已實施《2023 年受益所有權透明度法案》，該法案顯著擴大了受益所有權制度的範圍，將有限合夥企業、豁免有限合夥企業和基金會公司納入其中。但是它不包括外國公司或信託。
該法案已在立法機關獲得長時間通過。 2021 年時政府決定將其實益所有權揭露制度（公司自行保存其控制人的記錄）轉變為基於符合金融行動特別工作組 (FATF) 建議的中央登記冊的製度。
由於 COVID-19 大流行導致的封鎖，會議被推遲，受益所有權透明度法案草案最終於 2023 年公佈、協商，並於當年第四季提交給議會。它將受益所有權登記制度的範圍擴大到更多實體，特別是有限合夥企業和在開曼群島金融管理局註冊的實體。財政部認為取消現有豁免對於滿足 FATF 的要求是必要的。事實上，FATF 於 2023 年 10 月將開曼群島從反洗錢 (AML) 控制不充分的司法管轄區名單中刪除，隨後歐盟委員會和英國於 2023 年 12 月進行了類似的重新分類。
該法案於2023年底獲得開曼群島議會批准，計劃全年分階段生效。它授權內閣制定法規，開放公眾獲取管轄區受益所有權登記冊中持有的信息，儘管現在看來不太可能授予公眾全面的獲取權限。即公眾對註冊表的存取可能僅限於那些滿足「合法利益」測試的人。
財政部於 2024 年 5 月發布的最新消息解釋，政府正在繼續推動實施該法案所需的立法和系統變革。該部建議行業成員應繼續使用現有表格提交受益所有權信息，直至另行通知。當受益所有權資訊的申報暫停以及何時恢復使用新表格進行申報時，行業將進行更新。
新法案要求對《公司法》、《有限責任公司法》和《有限責任合夥企業法》以及其他提及實益所有權條款的法案進行修訂。
因此，其他幾項立法也於 2024 年 7 月 31 日生效，包括《2023 年公司管理（修正）（第 2 號）法》；虛擬資產（服務提供者）（修正案）（第 2 號）法，2023 年； 2023 年公司（修訂）法； 2023 年銀行與信託公司（修訂）法；以及《2023 年基金會公司（修訂）法》。
Cayman Islands brings amended beneficial ownership Act into force
The Cayman government has brought the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act 2023 into force. The Act significantly expands the scope of the beneficial ownership regime to include limited partnerships, exempted limited partnerships and foundation companies. However, it does not include foreign companies or trusts.
The Act has had a long passage through the legislature. In 2021, the government decided to convert its beneficial ownership disclosure regime, in which companies themselves kept records of their controlling persons, into one based on a centrally held register compliant with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.
Consultation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and the draft Beneficial Ownership Transparency Bill was eventually published for consultation in 2023 and introduced to parliament in the fourth quarter of the year. It extended the scope of the beneficial ownership registration regime to many more entities, notably limited partnerships and entities registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. This removal of existing exemptions was considered by the finance ministry to be necessary to meet FATF's demands. Indeed, in October 2023 FATF removed the Cayman Islands from its list of jurisdictions with inadequate anti-money laundering (AML) controls, followed by similar reclassifications by both the European Commission and the UK in December 2023.
The Bill was approved by the Cayman Islands parliament at the end of 2023, with the intention of bringing it into force in stages throughout the year. It authorises the cabinet to make regulations opening up public access to information held in the jurisdiction's beneficial ownership register, although it now appears unlikely that full public access will be granted. Instead, public access to the registry is likely to be restricted to those who meet a 'legitimate interest' test.
An update issued by the finance ministry in May 2024 explained that the government was continuing to progress the legislative and systems changes required to implement the Act. The ministry advised that industry members should continue to file beneficial ownership information using the existing form until informed otherwise. The industry will be updated when the filing of beneficial ownership information is to be suspended and again when to resume filing using the new forms.
The new Act required amendments to the Companies Act, the Limited Liability Companies Act, and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, as well as other acts that reference beneficial ownership provisions.
Several other pieces of legislation were therefore also brought into force on 31 July 2024, including the Companies Management (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2023; Virtual Assets (Services Providers) (Amendment) (No.2) Act, 2023; Companies (Amendment) Act 2023; Banks and Trust Companies (Amendment) Act 2023; and the Foundation Companies (Amendment) Act 2023.
Sources:
• Cayman Islands Official Gazette
• Conyers (PDF)
• Cayman Islands government (Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act, PDF)