By Alric Lindsay
A delegation from the United Kingdom, including Sarah Champion MP, The Rt Hon. the Lord Brady of Altrincham, The Rt Hon. the Baroness Laing of Elderslie DBE, Edward Morello MP and Dr Al Pinkerton MP wrapped up a high-profile visit to the Cayman Islands today, February 17, 2026, with a frank and upbeat media session. The delegation praised the territory’s financial regulation, environmental stewardship, and institutional maturity while outlining practical areas for deeper UK-Cayman collaboration.
Regarding financial transparency and regulation, Blackbox Insights & News noted that the Cayman Islands took a position of permitting limited access (by parties who could establish a “legitimate interest”) to beneficial ownership registers through amended legislation. Meanwhile, the UK is pushing for a public register that may be accessed by the general public. The question, therefore, is how these differences between the UK and its territory will be resolved.
Addressing the question, one UK delegate said:
There are many myths swirling around about beneficial ownership, about money laundering.
One of the reasons that I came is to speak first hand to the people that are in the role to put that regulation in place. And we had a meeting with them yesterday afternoon, and we were quite robust in our questioning. It was very helpful for me to see the broader international perspective about what’s going well.
The UK delegate added:
… before coming on this trip, I spoke to Minister Doughty about it, and he is very complimentary about how far Cayman has gone, particularly in this region. And I would say that you’re now one of the leading voices.
Premier Andre Ebanks elucidated on the groups who provided feedback to the delegation, including private sector firms, the Ministry of Financial Services, the General Registry, and other authorities and other agencies. The Premier indicated that these stakeholders were all on the same page as to beneficial ownership concerns.
Her Excellency The Governor Miss Jane Owen chimed in, noting that, although the UK has an open register and Cayman has taken a different position in terms of limiting access to legitimate interests, “the key thing is that if there are concerns, they can be properly investigated.”
Her Excellency added:
Under a legitimate interest access register, that is possible. And that is absolutely what Cayman is trying to do.
But there’s obviously a threshold to demonstrate why you have an interest.
Her Excellency continued by emphasizing that, as the regulatory environment continues to evolve, “what we want to do is to really see how our register, which is pretty state of the art for a legitimate interest access register… actually operates in practice and we need to see what the questions are coming in and we need to test it and we will continue to make sure that it is really world class register.”
It now remains to be seen whether Cayman’s position will become the standard for the region and accepted by the UK or whether, after being tested, the UK will require the Cayman Islands to make its beneficial ownership register fully accessible by the general public.
Note to readers
It is understood that the visiting UK delegation is part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Overseas Territories. Their purpose is to ensure Overseas Territory voices are heard in Westminster, influence legislation and to prevent unintended consequences. The visiting delegation was hosted by the Hon. Premier Andre Ebanks, Her Excellency The Governor Miss Jane Owen, and Dr Tasha Ebanks-Garcia.
