Turks and Caicos Islands: Companies
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July 2025 on Implementation of Beneficial Ownership Registers across the Overseas Territories, what the evidential basis is for the statement that officials had conducted an in-house assessment of the latest policies and proposals on beneficial ownership registers from the Overseas Territories in the context of the operation of the Turks and Caicos Islands' register.
Answered by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Establishing wider access to beneficial ownership data including to those with a legitimate interest - is a step forward towards enabling greater scrutiny of illicit finance. The UK welcomed Turks and Caicos Island's (TCI) Legitimate Interest Access (LIA) Register of Beneficial Ownership when it launched in 2025. But we are clear that there is more work to be done. We are working with TCI and other Overseas Territories (OTs) to ensure those with LIA registers provide the maximum possible degree of access and transparency, whilst protecting the right to privacy in line with each OT's respective constitutions. Fee rates are part of this discussion. The UK's expectation remains for the OTs and Crown Dependencies to establish fully public registers of beneficial ownership.
The UK is committed to expanding economic cooperation with the OTs. Sustainable economic prosperity is important to the whole UK family. The FCDO co-convened an OT Trade and Investment Study Visit in March 2026 bringing together senior representatives from across the OTs - including from TCI - to strengthen awareness of UK capabilities, and give our support to commercial partnerships and economic development opportunities. The UK Government remains available to provide advice and technical support where requested.
We regularly raise our expectations on publicly accessible and legitimate interest access registers of beneficial ownership with OTs and Crown Dependencies, and I most recently discussed this with the Premier of the TCI on 10 August.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →