UK Accused of ‘Caving In’ to British Virgin Islands Over Secret Company Registers

The UK government is facing sharp criticism for allegedly succumbing to pressure from the British Virgin Islands (BVI), an Overseas Territory, by allowing it to implement significant restrictions on a long-promised public register of company share ownership.

The controversy centers on the BVI’s intention to limit access to the register only to individuals deemed to have a “legitimate interest”—a restriction seen as defying UK legislation from 2008 and a recent 2024 agreement by Overseas Territories (BOTs) to implement fully open corporate registers by June 2025. Public registers are considered a vital anti-corruption tool, designed to expose tax evasion and illicit finance by identifying the true beneficial owners of offshore companies.The dispute comes as Foreign Office ministers prepare for a week of talks with leaders of the BOTs during the Joint Ministerial Council gathering in London.

An All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on anti-corruption, coordinated by its chair, Phil Brickell, has written to ministers, warning that this week’s meeting represents the “last chance” to resolve the issue before the UK hosts the high-profile Global Illicit Finance Summit next year. The MPs warned that the backsliding by territories like the BVI and the Cayman Islands is damaging Britain’s reputation, hindering its vision of becoming “the anti-corruption capital of the world.”

“This has gone on for long enough,” Brickell stated. “Time and time again promises have been broken and Britain’s reputation as a clean and fair place to do business has been dragged through the mud.”

The BVI’s proposed definition of “legitimate interest” includes anyone seeking to investigate, prevent, or detect money laundering or terrorist financing. However, critics point out that the BVI’s rules also allow the Registrar to deny access if it deems it in the territory’s public interest to do so, and requires the relevant company to be notified of any request.

Transparency International criticized the BVI’s limited approach, stating that it means “legitimate interest users will only see a subset of data, rather than what is being submitted to the register.” The anti-corruption watchdog argued that users may end up only seeing the names of nominee shareholders or trustees, effectively shielding the true hidden beneficiary.

The BVI’s lack of transparency surrounding beneficial ownership led the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to officially grey-list the territory in June 2025. Given that the BVI is estimated to have 12 companies registered for every individual citizen, the outcome of these talks is deemed crucial for the UK’s global standing on financial integrity.