Legitimate Interest Access To Bermuda's Central Register Of Beneficial Ownership

The Registrar of Companies (RoC) has recently published a Consultation Paper, Legitimate Interest Access to Bermuda's Central Register of Beneficial Ownership (CP).The Bermuda Government plans to establish a legislative framework and supporting electronic system for legitimate interest access to the central register of beneficial ownership information by July 2026 (Framework). The CP includes nine questions for consultation which will inform various components of the Framework such as the definition of legitimate interest, the categories of persons who may qualify for access, the scope of information to be disclosed and the safeguards necessary to ensure that the regime if effective, workable and consistent with Bermuda's international commitments and applicable legal principles.

Background

Legitimate interest access has developed from evolving international standards. Beneficial ownership legislation was enacted in September 2025 in response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 24. Separate to the FATF recommendation, the European Union Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) recommended that the beneficial ownership information should be public. Subsequently the Court of Justice for the European Union (ECJ) held that unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information constituted a disproportionate interference with the rights to privacy and data protection embedded in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Director (6AMLD) then replaced the recommendation for public access with a recommendation for access conditional upon the demonstration of a legitimate interest.

Questions

The following are the nine questions stipulated in the CP:

1. What information or documentation should applicants be required to demonstrate that a request for beneficial ownership information is connected with the prevention or combating of money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing?
2. What criteria should the Registrar apply when assessing whether an applicant's credentials are sufficient to support a request for legitimate interest access?
3. Please provide your feedback on the information it is proposed will be provided to applicants.
4. How should grouped requests operate in practice?
5. What safeguards should apply when providing beneficial owners with information about persons who have accessed beneficial ownership information on the central register, including the extent of information that should be disclosed about the requester?
6. In what circumstances should access to beneficial ownership information be restricted in order to protect beneficial owners from disproportionate risk or harm?
7. What factors should the Registrar consider when determining whether an application for legitimate interest access should be refused or revoked?
8. What period of validity should apply once an applicant has been granted legitimate interest access to beneficial ownership information?
9. What fee structure would be most appropriate for legitimate interest access to beneficial ownership information on the central register? In particular, should fees apply at the point of application, at the point of each search request, or through a combination of both?

Conclusion

While Bermuda is fully committed to transparency and implementing a legitimate access Framework, it is balancing this against an individual's right to privacy and data protection. The objective is therefore to structure the Framework in a manner that supports the prevention and detection of financial crime while ensuring that the disclosure of personal information is proportionate and consistent with Bermuda's data protection legislation.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Kennedys operates in Bermuda in association with Kennedys Chudleigh Ltd.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.