The crown dependencies may have agreed to introduce publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers to meet EU requirements, but some resentment appears to be lingering following an attempt by Westminster to impose them on the islands.
Irony abounds
Guernsey chief minister Gavin St Pier wrote to Boris Johnson on 24 July, following his appointment as prime minister.
In the letter, St Pier described the island’s “disappointment at the recent moves by some backbench MPs to attempt to legislate directly for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man on the topic of registers of beneficial ownership of companies”.
He added: “There is irony in that, at a time when the UK is considering how best to implement the Brexit referendum result to ‘take back control’ from the EU, some UK parliamentarians are attempting to take control away from Guernsey’s democratically elected government.”
St Pier asked Johnson for “assurances that your government will […] strongly resist any further attempts by parliament to legislate for these islands without consent”.
He confirmed, however, that the crown dependencies will move to public registers in line with the EU’s fifth anti-money laundering directive.
Fight financial crime
In Johnson’s response, dated 9 September, he acknowledged that Guernsey is continuing its “engagement with parliamentarians regarding the subject of public registers of beneficial ownership”.
This suggests that discussions are ongoing between the crown dependencies and the UK parliament, but it is not clear what it entails.
He added that “the UK government is unambiguous in supporting the constitutional position that the UK parliament should not legislate on your behalf on these matters without your consent.
“The recent joint announcement by the crown dependencies that you will implement your own publicly accessible registers […] underlines your commitment to fight against financial crime,” the prime minister wrote.
