UK Transparency Watchdog Gives Montserrat “A” Rating

Montserrat has emerged as the standout performer in a new assessment by Transparency International UK, which recently released a detailed review of beneficial ownership registers across major UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs). The report, Opening-Up Offshore Secrecy, shows that while most jurisdictions have failed to honour transparency commitments made nearly seven years ago, Montserrat has delivered.

The assessment examined progress by Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Montserrat against 92 criteria measuring the strength of their beneficial ownership frameworks and the accessibility of their registers. Montserrat achieved an ‘A’ grade in both categories, making it the strongest performer in this first release. By contrast, Bermuda and the BVI received an ‘F’ for accessibility, reflecting their continued refusal to open up corporate ownership data.

Both the scoring and recommendations stem from a framework Transparency International UK published earlier this year, intended to guide Overseas Territories on meeting their commitments to reveal the ultimate owners of companies, either through fully public registers or robust “legitimate interest” systems.

Margot Mollat, Senior Policy & Research Manager at Transparency International UK, said the findings expose how little progress has been made in most territories. “These results make one thing clear: behind the promise of progress, very little has changed. Company registries in Cayman, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda largely remain closed, and these territories have fallen short of their promises made at previous Joint Ministerial Council meetings.

“A legitimate interest model still requires territories to be serious about transparency and should not serve as a cover for back-tracking on earlier commitments.

“Journalists, civil society groups and other investigators are essential to exposing wrongdoing. Continuing to deny them meaningful access sends a clear message: those territories still prioritise secrecy over wider transparency efforts to effectively tackle money laundering.

“When billions are looted and laundered through jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands, communities worldwide pay the price – in schools, housing or hospitals in dire need of public funding. They face consequences, and so should the territories that fail to deliver promised reforms.”

While several territories have shifted to an EU-style “legitimate interest” model, the assessment found that narrow interpretations and restrictive access policies severely undermine the effectiveness of these systems. High barriers to access, incomplete datasets that obscure ownership structures, “tipping-off” risks and slow implementation continue to limit oversight and accountability. Bermuda, for example, does not expect to provide access to its register until 2026.

Only three territories, Gibraltar, Montserrat and St Helena, have implemented fully public registers, which Transparency International UK describes as the simplest and most cost-effective way to ensure accessible, high-quality beneficial ownership information.

The report also highlights broader global consequences of offshore secrecy, citing major corruption cases such as 1MDB, the PrivatBank theft and the Glencore Paradise Papers revelations. Previous research from Transparency International UK found that over 90% of UKOT companies linked to corruption and money laundering were incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. In June 2024, the Financial Action Task Force grey-listed the BVI, citing failures to recognise and address the role its companies play in international economic crime.

Under the 2018 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act, all UK Overseas Territories were required to introduce public registers of beneficial ownership. At the November 2024 Joint Ministerial Council, the territories committed to implementing “Legitimate Interest Access Registers of Beneficial Ownership (LIARBOs) with the maximum possible degree of access and transparency.”

For now, Montserrat stands nearly alone in meeting both the spirit and the letter of those commitments, setting a benchmark many of its peers have yet to match.

Source: New assessment reveals UK’s offshore financial centres failing to meet their corporate transparency commitments | Transparency International UK