New Bill to enhance and consolidate Cayman Island's Beneficial Ownership Rules (Beneficial Ownership Transparency Bill, 2023)

The Cayman Islands government has published a new bill, the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Bill, 2023 of the Cayman Islands (the "Bill"), which, if enacted, will consolidate, and thereby simplify, the existing rules on beneficial ownership registers into one single piece of legislation and will align the definition of "beneficial owner" with the Cayman Island's anti-money laundering rules.

Key provisions of the Bill

• The Bill makes no material changes to the requirement for in-scope entities to identify beneficial owners and to establish and maintain a register of those beneficial owners;
• it amends the definition of "beneficial owner" to align it more closely with the definition in the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (Revised) of the Cayman Islands (see further below);
• it extends the requirement to establish and maintain a register of beneficial owners to partnerships, including limited partnerships and exempted limited partnerships;
• changes are made to the exemptions available under the present regimes, including allowing certain entities to use an "alternative route to compliance";
• charitable companies registered under section 80 of the Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands remain out of scope; and
• it makes no changes to the accessibility of beneficial registers by the public or any person other than certain regulators and law enforcement agencies.

It is anticipated that the Bill will be presented to the Parliament of the Cayman Islands in the fourth quarter of 2023 and, if passed, the new provisions will be introduced in phases.

If you would like any further information, please get in touch with your usual Bedell Cristin contact or one of the contacts listed.