Ahead of public consultations on a plan to expand access to the territory’s company-ownership register by June, Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley has warned against granting unrestricted access until all other jurisdictions are prepared to do the same.
Instead of giving in to United Kingdom pressure to implement full transparency, Mr. Wheatley plans to open the register to people with a “legitimate interest” — a term that is expected to be further defined with input gathered from consultations that launched on Friday.
“It’s important that we have global standards — regional and global standards,” Mr. Wheatley told the Beacon last week, adding, “Because if one jurisdiction is most draconian in a particular way … and another jurisdiction is not, [companies] just move from one jurisdiction to the next.”
UK position
Like the UK, tax-transparency campaigners have long argued that all company registers should be fully open to the public as part of efforts to deter tax evasion and other criminality.
But with no global standard in place, the premier compared the international situation to a classroom.
“It’s kind of like you have a class and you’re the teacher and one student is working very hard and they have very strict requirements on that one student, and then they’re watching the other student right next to them, and they are playing around and not being sanctioned by the teacher,” he said. “So that would be unfair.”
The Speech from the Throne, which was written by the government and delivered this month by Governor Daniel Pruce, also made it clear that access to the new register will be restricted.
“Everybody should play by the same rules,” Mr. Wheatley said last week. “We all have to play by the same rules. We need a level playing field and just having very vigorous requirements on one jurisdiction and not on others isn’t quite fair.”
Asked if he is under pressure by big businesses that want to avoid additional scrutiny, the premier answered in the negative.
“We don’t believe in secrecy, but we do respect the constitutional right to privacy,” he said. “We have been very transparent. We have the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System, which has been able to provide the UK authorities with information within just a few hours.”
The premier added that the VI has always worked closely with UK authorities on such issues.
“The very first Unexplained Wealth Order that was produced in the United Kingdom was based on information provided by the Virgin Islands government through our BOSSS system,” he said. “So we take those things very seriously: our responsibility to be able to fight financial crime. We want to adhere to global standards. We don’t want to be singled out for just a Virgin Islands-specific standard.”
‘Frank’ talks
Mr. Wheatley acknowledged, however, that he has recently had “frank” discussions with the UK government on the topic.
“The newly elected Labour government, and the government before that, made it very clear that they want more transparency, but we have been able to work well with this administration,” he said, adding, “I appreciate the honesty and frankness of the discussions. … We recognise that there’s a challenge that we have to confront, and we have to confront it together.”
Consultations
Announcing the public consultations on Tuesday, Mr. Wheatley said the move shows an “unwavering commitment” to ensure the VI “remains a leader” in financial transparency.
“We are taking proactive steps to strengthen our systems, align with international best practice and provide a robust framework that balances privacy and transparency,” the premier said in a statement.
He also called on all stakeholders to engage in the process.
The government explained in the statement that it is embarking on the consultation exercise because of a lack of international consensus on the way forward for company registers.
“While the BVI has reviewed similar models being used and consulted on in other British crown dependencies and overseas territories, as well as other international jurisdictions, it acknowledges that no global standard for accessing beneficial ownership information has yet emerged,” government stated. “Given the differences between jurisdictions, a tailored approach is critical. To this end, the government is utilising a collaborative, cross-industry approach to define ‘legitimate-interest’ access and the processes that govern it.”
