London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

British Virgin Islands to unmask company owners - by breaking the GDPR laws

British Virgin Islands to unmask company owners - by breaking the GDPR laws

The ownership of hundreds of thousands of companies registered in one of the world’s most secretive financial jurisdictions is to be made public for the first time.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has committed itself to creating a publicly accessible register of company ownership by 2023 in a move welcomed by the UK government.

Anti-corruption campaigners hailed a victory for transparency and the fight against hidden movements of huge sums of money. The BVI has featured heavily in leaked documents such as the Panama Papers and the recent Fincen data from the United States.

The Panama Papers leak from the law firm Mossack Fonseca showed that more than half the offshore companies mentioned in its files had been incorporated in the BVI. Among the wealthy individuals identified were the Russian billionaires Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, close friends of Vladimir Putin, who established seven companies in the British overseas territory.

Zamira Hajiyeva, the woman at the centre of the first unexplained wealth order case, was revealed in the High Court to have bought her £11.5 million home in Knightsbridge through a company registered in the BVI.

A BBC investigation in 2018 found that a quarter of British properties owned by foreign companies were registered to entities in the BVI. It calculated that 11,700 companies registered there owned 23,000 UK properties.

The islands join the other overseas territories — Anguilla Bermuda, Cayman, Montserrat and Turks & Caicos — in promising a public ownership register. Gibraltar is required to establish one under EU anti-money laundering directives.

Baroness Sugg, the Foreign Office minister, said that the BVI’s move was “a strong signal of the UK family’s commitment to tackle the global problem of illicit finance”.

Ava Lee of Global Witness said that it was “a major step forward in the fight against the UK’s tax havens being used in global money laundering”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×