Effective, But Not Public – An Alternative

Singapore, September 23, 2016 – Ms. Elise Donovan, Director, BVI House Asia, presented today on the topic of a public register of beneficial owners, entitled “Effective, But Not Public – An Alternative,” at the Singapore Trustees Association Conference 2016.

The conference, held at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, had as its theme, “Trustees in Transparent Times” and was attended by 230 participants from Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In addition to Ms. Donovan’s presentation, BVI House Asia maintained an information booth at the all-day conference, manned by Ms. Heather Tang, COO of BVI House Asia. The booth proved popular with conference attendees who requested more information about the BVI.

During her presentation Ms. Donovan said:

“Public registries of beneficial ownership information is a very contentious issue. Very few jurisdictions have committed to the creation of public registries, and some have explicitly ruled them out….

“BVI has long been committed to meeting international standards of transparency. Together, the systems we have in place to require the maintenance of beneficial ownership information, to regulate our company service providers, and to share information with global partners effectively achieves this.” 

Following her presentation, Ms. Donovan joined a panel discussion chaired by Ms. Dawn Quek, Principal, Baker & McKenzie.  Other panelists included Mr. JC Edmund Leow, Judicial Commissioner, Supreme Court of Singapore; Mr. Matthias Lee, Head of Trust Administration, UBS Trustees (Singapore) Ltd; and Mr. Peter Cotorceanu, CEO and Founder, G &TCA.

BVI House Asia

BVI House Asia was established as the BVI Government’s Representative Office in Asia to support and expand the strong relationship that the BVI has had with Asia Pacific region for more than 25 years.  BVI House Asia allows the BVI Government to be responsive in real time, answering any questions about BVI business, and working with industry practitioners to increase knowledge and awareness about economic business opportunities, especially in the financial services industry