The island will aim to have a fully public register of beneficial ownership by the end of 2023 the Chief Minister has confirmed.

Howard Quayle released a joint statement alongside the governments of Jersey and Guernsey which said the three jurisdictions will continue their ’track record of meeting international standards’.

The move has been made in preparation for the introduction of the EU’s publication of the Implementation Review of the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive in January 2022.

One of the key elements of the fifth AMLD is that registers of beneficial ownership information created under the AMLD4 will be made publicly accessible.

Mr Quayle said: ’The Isle of Man has a longstanding, and independently verified, track record of meeting international standards.

’EU Member States’ implementation of Public Registers creates a clear direction of travel.

’It is in all our strategic interests and our standing as responsible jurisdictions to commit to further develop the accessibility and transparency of our register of beneficial ownership for companies.’

Speaking to the Manx Independent, the Chief Minister said he wants to create a robust register and will seek to ’find a system that works for us’. The UK’s register has been criticised as company directors have been registered under such names as Donald Duck.

Mr Quayle also noted that while the Crown Dependencies are business rivals, it makes sense to work together as ’we have an awful lot in common’.

’It is something we do on a number of issues’, he said. ’Whether it be health services, child protection, adult protection, this is the sort of thing that goes on behind the scenes on a regular basis.’

The Chief Minister also confirmed that while the introduction of a public register would occur after the life span of this parliament, his administration will ’lay much of the groundwork’ and should be ready to launch ’by the end of 2023’.

This move should also relieve some of the pressure applied by UK politicians Dame Margaret Hodge and Andrew Mitchell who had been seeking to force the Crown Dependencies to create publicly open registers by adding amendments to UK legislation on, including other things, Brexit.