Crown Dependencies hold beneficial ownership discussions with UK

Isle of Man Chief Minister Alfred Cannan, along with his counterparts from Guernsey and Jersey, met with the UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis in London on 5 March for discussions around progress on access to beneficial ownership (BO), tackling illicit finance and co-operation between on law enforcement.

The Crown Dependencies have all implemented beneficial ownership registers and this information is made available to law enforcement agencies. In 2018, the UK parliament passed legislation requiring the UK government to prepare a draft order in council instructing the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories to make their BO registers available for unrestricted public access.

In 2019, the Crown Dependencies agreed to align their BO registers with the EU and UK, making them available for unrestricted public access as envisaged under the EU’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD).

This project was paused, however, following a significant 2022 ruling (WM and Sovim SA v Luxembourg Business Registers) by the Court of Justice of the EU, which found that permitting public access constituted a serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data.

In December 2023, the Crown Dependencies jointly announced that they would not make their BO registers available to the general public with unrestricted access and would instead permit access to information on the registers only to those who can demonstrate a “legitimate interest” in the requested information.

Following the recent meeting with the UK government, Chief Minister Cannan said that the Crown Dependencies were continuing to monitor developments and explore this policy area but remained concerned that such a policy could lead to a legal challenge.

“Despite this significant hurdle, our talks were positive,” he said. “I was able to update the Minister on the Isle of Man fulfilling its commitment to provide beneficial ownership information to entities obliged to conduct due diligence checks. This was implemented in December 2024, fully in line with our commitment to do so.

“I was also able to reassure the Minister that the Island can progress access for legitimate entities relatively swiftly, but with the European Union only now developing its definitions in this area, we will need to closely monitor developments and ensure alignment with EU standards. We will continue to work closely and positively with our partners in the UK, Guernsey and Jersey on these matters and I look forward to continuing our dialogue.”