The Bermuda Government is working with Britain on drafting a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership, with a timeline to be announced next month, British MPs heard this week.

The details came on Monday from David Rutley, Conservative MP and the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in response to a question from Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP for Barking.

Bermuda has maintained an ownership register for decades, but Britain’s Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 compels all Overseas Territories to establish publicly accessible ownership registers by 2023.

The island had committed to making the information public this year, in a July 2020 statement given by Curtis Dickinson, then the Minister of Finance.

However, the move was complicated by a ruling in November 2022 by the European Court of Justice.

The court found that public registers infringed upon fundamental rights of privacy and personal-data protection.

Dame Margaret posed the question in Monday’s debate, asking the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to assess the island’s progress on drawing up a public list.

She asked if the island’s register would be open, “free at point of access” and when it would be live.

Mr Rutledge told the House that Bermuda “already shares confidential information on company beneficial ownership with UK law enforcement”.

He said Bermuda’s Government was identifying the legislative changes needed for a public register, and that recouping the costs of running it would be “a matter for the territory government”.

Mr Rutledge added that the Bermuda Government was “assessing its timeline for implementation” in light of the EU judgment.

He said the British Government was working with Bermuda on “the issues raised by that judgment” and providing technical assistance — most recently on October 10, at the UK-OT Beneficial Ownership Transparency Technical Working Group.

Mr Rutley said the timeline for Bermuda and other OTs would be confirmed at a Joint Ministerial Council meeting scheduled for November 14 and 15.