The view from Transparency International UK’s Senior Policy Officer Rose Zussman

We welcome the Cayman Islands’ commitment to introduce corporate transparency without compulsion. Through this statement of intent, Premier Alden McLaughlin has shown leadership that other British Overseas Territories would be wise to follow. Shielding corporate owners from public scrutiny is increasingly out of line with a global standard for measures to combat dirty money.

There is now a wealth of evidence to show how secretive companies in places like the British Virgin Islands have been used by a corrupt global elite to steal from some of the most impoverished people on the planet. Our research has found over 1,200 anonymous companies registered in the Overseas Territories used in 237 major scandals, which have caused over £250 billion in economic damage around the world, and this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. Shining a light on who really owns companies is critical to preventing the corrupt from getting away with the proceeds of their crimes.