Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Falkland Islands' implementation of publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership in line with the Draft Order in Council prepared by the Secretary of State to comply with the requirement under section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; whether that Territory has (a) introduced and (b) passed the legislation required for the creation of a publicly accessible register of company beneficial ownership; whether the register will be (i) open and (ii) free at point of access; and when the register will be (A) live and (B) operational.

The Government of the Falkland Islands (FIG) has committed to introduce a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership (PARBO).

FIG is identifying the necessary modifications to its legislative regime to enable the creation of a PARBO that would comply with the standards set out in a written ministerial statement (HCWS369) of 14 December 2020. How the Falkland Islands seeks to recoup the costs of operating their PARBO will be a matter for the Territory Government.

FIG is assessing its timeline for implementation in light of ongoing constraints on capacity and expertise. The UK Government is providing technical assistance, most recently at the UK-OT Beneficial Ownership Transparency Technical Working Group on 10 October. We will confirm the timeline with the Falkland Islands and other Overseas Territories at the Joint Ministerial Council scheduled for 14-15 November.