Bermuda cited in beneficial ownership failure

Transparency International UK’s assessment reveals that major British Overseas Territories have largely failed to meet their transparency commitments regarding beneficial ownership registers. The report highlights that jurisdictions like Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands received failing grades for inaccessible data, with significant delays in implementation. This lack of progress undermines global anti-corruption efforts, as these financial centers continue to obscure the true owners of companies, facilitating money laundering and the illicit flow of capital. The analysis emphasizes the critical difference between a public registry and a "legitimate interest" model. While territories have adopted the latter to comply with privacy rulings, many apply it too narrowly, effectively barring journalists, academics, and civil society groups from accessing vital information. This restricted access prevents independent scrutiny and allows secrecy to persist under the guise of privacy protection. The report argues that without broad, open access for legitimate investigators, these systems serve as cover for backtracking on earlier promises of transparency. This article is highly relevant to open data because it illustrates the tension between regulatory compliance and genuine data accessibility. It underscores that merely making data technically available is insufficient if access is gated behind restrictive bureaucratic hurdles. For open data advocates, this highlights the need to push not just for the publication of datasets, but for the removal of barriers that prevent civil society and researchers from utilizing that information to combat corruption and hold powerful entities accountable.

Source: royalgazette.com
Published on 2025-11-27

Bermuda cited in beneficial ownership failure

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