Public Registers of Beneficial Ownership in the British Overseas Territories via the Criminal Finances Act 2017: Does Britain Know Best? The Case of Bermuda

This LLM dissertation focuses on proposed Amendment 167 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, by which Bermuda (and other British Overseas Territories) would be forced to adopt public registers of beneficial ownership. This paper assesses the potential legal imposition of a public register of beneficial ownership via Order in Council on Bermuda both practically and theoretically. Ultimately, the author attempts to answer the broad question of: Is an imposition of a public register of beneficial ownership by the UK in Bermuda justified? To this end, an all-encompassing legal discussion will ensue, utilising academic and practitioner thought, political discourse, and legislative assessment to lend clarity to an emerging legal theme: company ownership transparency broadly, as well as specifically in relation to UK-Bermuda. Standing at the intersection of regulatory policy and international legal relations, this paper finds the exact value of public registers not only questionable in current academic and practitioner thought, but also unnecessary in the unique case of Bermuda. Further, it is found, after analysis of Bermuda’s financial sector, legal framework, and tax system that the imposition of a public register in Bermuda is fundamentally flawed on both a legal and logical basis. Because of the two points made above, it is concluded overall that the UK imposition of a public register in Bermuda cannot be justified.