Committee publication · Correspondence · 24 February 2026
Letter from the Minster for Small Business and Economic Transformation and the Minister of State for Europe, North America and the UK Overseas Territories relating to the transparency of beneficial ownership in the UK, 20 February 2026
From: Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls
Inquiry: The UK's trade sanctions regime
Summary
Two government ministers respond to the Business and Trade Committee's February 2026 queries on beneficial ownership transparency in the UK, Crown Dependencies, and Overseas Territories. The government claims leadership on company transparency through recent Economic Crime Acts reforms, defends its legitimate-interest access model over EU-style public registers, and outlines implementation timelines for beneficial ownership registers across overseas jurisdictions, with plans to convene further meetings on progress.
Key findings
- Government asserts UK beneficial ownership transparency exceeds international standards, citing public Persons with Significant Control and Register of Overseas Entities registers; rejects need to align with EU's 'presumption of legitimate interest' model.
- Trustees listed as Persons of Significant Control must already report beneficiaries if those beneficiaries exercise significant influence; most UK trusts separately register with HMRC's Trust Registration Service.
- Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies implementation timeline: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands targeting 1 April 2026 go-live; Bermuda summer 2026; Falkland Islands summer 2026 for publicly accessible registers; Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos already have legitimate-interest access.
- Government's 'ultimate expectation' remains fully public registers in all OTs and Crown Dependencies, but current legitimate-interest access implementations are presented as 'welcome and constructive' interim steps.
- Baroness Hodge-led Asset Ownership review will examine trust transparency across government; government will convene meeting with Overseas Territory premiers implementing legitimate-interest registers next month.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Liam Byrne MP, Blair McDougall MP, Stephen Doughty MP, Baroness Hodge, Companies House, HMRC, Crown Dependencies, Overseas Territories
Notable line
“These reforms represent the largest changes to the UK's framewo rk for registering companies in over 180 years.”
Key Quotes
“These reforms represent the largest changes to the UK's framewo rk for registering companies in over 180 years.”
“The UK is ahead of international standards in this area as the UK has public registers in the form of the Persons with Significant Control register and the Register of Overseas Entities.”
“… the UK Government expects that beneficial ownership registers allowing either repeated access for those with a legitimate interest or that are publicly accessible can be implemented by the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies in a manner that is compatible with Article”
“… the G overnment's ultimate expectation remains that the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories should introduce publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership registers.”
“I am convening a meeting with the Premiers of the Overseas Territories implementing legitimate interest access registers next month and, as mentioned in the 2025 JMC communique, a further update will follow.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗