The move follows yesterday ’s decision by UK MPs to require the opening of electoral registers in overseas territories to public scrutiny by the end of 2018 . MPs are prepared to look at ways of forcing the crown dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man to introduce public registers of company ownership if they are not willing to, in the wake of this week’s decision by parliament to insist that the overseas territories do so. Cayman Islands premier , Alden McLaughlin , likened the move to “ colonial despotism ” and said that the government was considering legal action to challenge it . Bermuda also questioned whether such measures would be constitutional , while representatives of the UK ’s 14 such territories said that implementation of the measures would be extremely expensive .
The move follows yesterday ’s decision by UK MPs to require the opening of electoral registers in overseas territories to public scrutiny by the end of 2018 . Cayman Islands premier , Alden McLaughlin , likened the move to “ colonial despotism ” and said that the government was considering legal action to challenge it . Bermuda also questioned whether such measures would be constitutional , while representatives of the UK ’s 14 such territories said that implementation of the measures would be extremely expensive .