Mr E. Benito Wheatley who was interview on may 12, 2016 by the BBC on the Virgin Islands being reluctant to make Beneficial Ownership information public. Photo: bvi.gov.vg

From left: US Secretary of State John F. Kerry and UK Prime Minister David W. D. Cameron at the Anti Corruption Summit in London. Photo: Getty Images

One of the concerns of Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Hon D. Orlando Smith, regarding the Beneficial Ownership Register being made public, is the matter of data security and the risks that may pose to legitimate businesses. Photo: VINO/File

The British Overseas Territory has also made it clear that it recognises the importance of wider collaboration between tax and law enforcement authorities on beneficial ownership information and is willing to pursue similar exchange of notes and protocols as that recently established between the UK and the VI with other countries.

United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister David W. D. Cameron, speaking at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London last week, said full disclosure would help prevent buying of property being used as a way to launder money.

United States Secretary of State John F. Kerry said financial corruption fueled poverty and terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Virgin Islands was not invited to the Anti-Corruption Summit and there are speculations that it was because it is refusing to make public ownership details of property there.

‘Everyone must move together’

But according to the Virgin Islands Representative to the United Kingdom and European Union, E. Benito Wheatly, during an exclusive interview with the BBC, the Virgin Islands is of the view that if there are any international initiatives that are relevant to it, “we expect to be involved in the development of that and any international standards, we would await word to see whether or not that happens.”

"Our position is that there should be an international standard if we are to move towards public central registers, and what that means is that everyone...move together...BVI has never had a problem with implementing international standards and in fact we would welcome being apart of setting them. Now what I should make clear is that BVI regulatory regime is very robust. We know much more about who owns and controls companies than many other jurisdictions and that is something that we are proud of," Wheatley said during the BBC interview of May 12, 2016.

The interviewer, BBC Radio 4 Presenter Shaun Lay, asked Mr Wheatley if he was saying that the VI would not sign up to making financial information on Beneficial Ownership public until Russia “that paragon of transparency” signs up to these standards.

"I cannot speak for Russia but the BVI has always endeavoured to meet international standards. What is key to this, especially following this summit, is that we must have legitimate efforts via international standard setting bodies that embodies to set a new standard."

VI well regulated & tax transparency compliant

Mr Wheatley was then asked if he was not worried that the VI would damage its reputation in the wider public arena if it is not seen to be leading in the way that Britain says it is leading.

"The BVI is proud of the fact that we have a very well regulated jurisdiction upon which we built a successful financial services industry for the last 30 years. Also, we adhere strictly to the rule of law and English Common Law is practiced there. The OECD Global Forum has rated us on tax transparency largely compliant; the same as Germany or the UK.

"This is a very good record that we want the UK public to be aware that we are doing our part; that we are well regulated and will join any international standard that is set, but it has to go through the proper channels and meet the necessary safeguards," Mr Wheatley said.

Time need to assess impact on VI economy

Meanwhile, Premier Dr The Hon D. Orlando Smith in a statement on May 11, 2016 said the VI supports the desire to achieve a new globally applied information exchange regime on beneficial ownership that is equal and even in its application across the board, however, it should not be hastily implemented.

“We believe that achieving this goal requires further details and discussions about how it would apply in practice and be effectively implemented consistently and globally, together with time to assess its impact on the BVI economy in the short and longer term."

He further stated, the VI would expect to participate in discussions by international standard setters as the proposed standard is developed and that it commits to implementing the standard once it is agreed and adopted by all UK Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, G20 and OECD Member States.

Fears of financial info being made public

One of the concerns of Premier Smith regarding the Beneficial Ownership Register being made public is the matter of data security and the risks that may pose to legitimate businesses.

“The moment we begin housing vast amounts of highly sensitive, private business information and then providing access to that information to a wide array of actors, the risk of a breach goes up immeasurably. If legitimate businesses fear that their international transactions will be exposed to the world, or, worse yet, accessed by criminals or terrorists and used as a weapon of extortion or intimidation, then the gears of international finance will start to grind more slowly,” Premier Smith said.

See link to BBC interview with Mr E. Benito Wheatley.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079m0sl

Here you can download the MP3.