
Haven or Hell: Off Shore Changes
With the UK government pressing many leading off-shore financial centres – including the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands – to commit to creating a central register which discloses the ultimate owners of domiciled companies, is this the end for tax havens?
It’s a seemingly natural extension to the recent focus here in the UK on improving transparency around corporate ownership, with recent legislation receiving Royal Assent and a subsequent new requirement from January 2016 for companies to keep a register of people who have significant control. If you have interests currently managed through off-shore financial centres, and if discretion is important to you, then it may be worth considering restructuring your portfolio.