Fair Tax Foundation’s Post

Later this year Cayman will introduce a modernised beneficial ownership regime. Important to be aware given these changes will impact a broad spectrum of entities including; companies, LLC and partnerships. Kendra Foster and Nathaniel Luker, from Ocorian Law (Cayman), outline the key changes you should be aware of.

Did you know the Cayman Islands’ Beneficial Ownership (BO) Regime is closely linked to the UK's push for greater transparency? As a British Overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands operates with autonomy, but the UK still plays a significant role in shaping its regulatory landscape. On July 1, 2017, the Cayman Islands implemented its Beneficial Ownership Regime following UK pressure. This was part of a global effort to combat money laundering and financial crimes. The centralized beneficial ownership register is accessible to law enforcement, including UK authorities, but not publicly available. 💡 A key update: the Cayman Islands Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act came into force on July 31, 2024, aligning with global transparency standards. However, the Ministry has confirmed that enforcement of obligations will not begin until January 1, 2025, giving companies time to comply. 🗓️ Reporting deadlines: Companies in the Cayman Islands must update their beneficial ownership information annually or whenever there’s a change, ensuring that authorities always have accurate data. This ongoing dialogue between transparency and privacy reflects the evolving global standards in financial services. #BeneficialOwnership #Transparency #CaymanIslands #UKRegulation #FinancialServices #AML #Compliance

The Cayman Islands is introducing a modernised beneficial ownership regime to combat financial crime and enhance transparency. In this article, Kendra Foster and Nathaniel Luker, both partners at Ocorian Law, explore the key changes under the Act and its implications for businesses in the Cayman Islands. https://lnkd.in/eCjkGa7a #BeneficialOwnership #Cayman

Have you signed up for our upcoming webinar on the Cayman Islands' new beneficial ownership regime? Register here: https://okt.to/Vh02qp With the new legislation in effect this month, discover some of the biggest changes in the BOR framework in Cayman. #FinancialServices #ApexGroup #Webinar #CaymanIslands #CaymanFinance #BOR #BeneficialOwnership #Cayman #funds #hedgefunds #partnerships #limitedpartnerships #trusts #generalpartners #corporates #BeneficialOwnerInformation #regulation #compliance #ROC

An excellent reprise of the state of play with the Overseas Territories on beneficial ownership as they all gather in London for the regular OTs Consultative council. Word is that the Foreign Secretary has decided he will not force the issue (as he is empowered to do) of requiring the registers to be, as UK's is, publicly available as distinct from only being accessible by those who can show a 'proper' need to know (ie, law enforcement and other authorities). As we've seen in the UK's case, public access has been valuable in exposing anomalies and likely false registrations. As BVI constantly asserts to everyone that it safeguards itself against doing 'dodgy' business, you would have thought it would be keen to allow maximum publicity to substantiate that assertion. #beneficialownership #transparency https://lnkd.in/e3asPEsZ

It is beyond time for the legislature and the judiciary to shine a light and require real disclosure of the identity of the litigation funding companies, and provide real regulation with real “interest” rates. This should include identifying those “financial investment” firms acquiring books of business from law firms. If our legislators and judges are interested in compromising national security and funding bad actors, we can continue business as usual. And our broken legal system can continue to attract interest from those with ill intentions towards New York and the United States. https://lnkd.in/eNaQt2ji

This report, whilst not entirely surprising, is, nevertheless, very disturbing. Our new (since 2015) UK Collective Procedures (Class Actions) regime has been steadily gathering momentum and we now have upwards of 30 active cases seeking billions in damages for consumer wrongs. As our regulatory system in the UK is not fit for purpose this regime is the last opportunity for consumers to hold big corporations to account. So it is theoretically and now in practice, very important. All this has been made possible by investment bodies called litigation funders. These are simply organisations that have the expertise to manage the risk of investing in these kinds of cases on behalf of investors seeking a good return based on manageable risk. So far so good. Litigation funders have gone out of their way to portray themselves as pure as the driven snow, helping those who cannot afford it to seek access to justice in the face of wrong-doing by big business with deep pockets. They have set up a self-regulatory organisation that seeks to maintain independence from statutory regulation with a code of conduct that in turn aims to show to government, the law, the news media and the public that they behave responsibly, that they perform a very worthwhile function bordering on public service and that the returns they seek for their investors are both legitimate and reasonable. I, myself, have three cases currently in process, all funded in this way by three different funders. I am pleased they are there as without them I would not be able to bring my cases against London Train Operating Companies, Apple and the Mobile Network Operators. So a report such as this is very disturbing and places litigation funders in particular but all of us involved in this regime on the defensive. What to do? Firstly, it is absolutely necessary but not sufficient, for the litigation funders to provide public assurance that the sources of their investment funds are unimpeachable. Secondly, having provided such assurance, it is necessary that they demonstrate exactly how that assurance can be provided. This means they need to be transparent about their source of funding and the steps they take both individually and collectively to ensure these sources of capital are unimpeachable - no money laundering fronts, no dodgy sovereign investment funds, no dodgy individuals, no opaque off-shore investment funds etc. The Collective Redress Lawyers Association (CORLA) and the Class Representatives Network (CRN) should engage in talks with the Association of Litigation Funders (ALF) to urgently jointly agree a set of protocols that can be published. Then we can all get on with the business of dealing with the real problems of consumer redress and not be distracted by these kinds of issues.

On 11 October 2024, the Cayman Islands Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce announced that it is seeking public feedback on two key regulations under the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act, 2023. See more in this blog post. #caymanislands #beneficialownership #bota

Continuing the theme of who or what is controlling some personal injury litigation in NYS, the below article sheds light on the issue from an international perspective.

The Cayman Islands is introducing a modernised beneficial ownership regime to combat financial crime and enhance transparency. In this article, Kendra Foster and Nathaniel Luker explore the key changes under the Act and its implications for businesses in the Cayman Islands. https://lnkd.in/eG6gxnr7 #BeneficialOwnership #Cayman