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<p><del class="ministerial">Those</del> <ins class="ministerial">Some </ins>Overseas
Territories with financial centres, namely Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,
Cayman Islands<del class="ministerial">, Gibraltar</del> and Montserrat have expressed
concern about new legislation on sanctions and anti-money laundering (the Sanctions
and Anti-Money Laundering Act), which became law on 23 May 2018; in particular the
requirement to establish a publicly accessible register of the beneficial ownership
of companies registered in each government's jurisdiction.</p><p><ins class="ministerial">Seperately,
the aforementioned Territories and Gibraltar have made representations over the potential
use of an Order in Council as specified in the Act, believing this to be constitutional
overreach by the UK.</ins></p><p>The Prime Minister held a conference call with leaders
of affected Territories on 24 May to discuss the issue and a further discussion was
held at the Joint Ministerial Council in June. Shortly after the passage of this legislation
I visited Anguilla, the Cayman Islands and Montserrat, where I held discussions on
this topic. Similarly, in late July I visited the British Virgin Islands and met with
representatives of the financial services industry and government of BVI. The Government
understands the strength of feeling on this issue and is committed to working collaboratively
with affected Territories on implementation.</p>
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