DOING THE ‘PARBO’ DANCE

With 2026 now set as the year of decision for the UK’s Overseas Territories to implement the contentious Public Access to Beneficial Ownership (PARBO) legislation, Cayman has positioned itself ahead of the curve.

As we reported in the accompanying article (Overseas Territories Under Pressure To Fully Implement UK Parbo Law This Year), Hon. Premier Andre Ebanks has long championed ticking all the right boxes for this legislation, much of which has already been implemented in Cayman.

This was noted at the recent Joint Ministerial Council summit in London last November. “We welcome the introduction of legitimate interest access to existing registers of beneficial ownership by the Cayman Islands in February 2025 and the Turks and Caicos Islands in June 2025 and note Cayman Islands’ June 2025 commitment to further improve user access,” the communique stated.

A contentious issue since it was first mooted, the PARBO law (as it’s now referred to from the previous BOTA - Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act), has missed a series of target implementation dates since 2020. After much negotiation with the UK, consultations with local and global industry experts, and debates in Parliament, a mutually agreeable outcome seems in sight, not just for Cayman but for sister OTs, which have been embroiled in the same battle...some with different skirmishes

With the plan being for a uniform implementation across all of the OTs by the middle of this year, the hope is that the remaining issues will be resolved by then.

Failing that, the message from Whitehall suggests a strong likelihood of forced implementation by decree.

From his time as Minister for Financial Services in previous administrations since 2021, to maintaining the portfolio along with his role as Premier, Mr Ebanks has been at the forefront of the delicate negotiations surrounding this complex issue; balancing the competing interests of secrecy - to safeguard clients’ sensitive personal and financial information), and transparency - to counter money laundering and illicit financing.

Meeting the highest standards of compliance and transparency while at the same time safeguarding the industry that underpins much of Cayman’s economy is a delicate but necessary balance to maintain.

We suspect the Hon. Premier and Min. for Financial Services is quite adept at tap dancing.