Regulatory Blog

On 20 November 2025, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority announced that Economic Substance reporting obligations will transition from the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System to the Virtual Integrated Registry Regulatory General Information Network portal. The ITA has confirmed that the new VIRRGIN ES filing portal is in its final stages of preparation and will be deployed for filings due in 2026.

On 9 October 2025, the European Banking Authority released a report addressing money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the crypto-asset sector.

Bermuda enacted the Beneficial Ownership Act 2025 (the Act), a significant legislative reform designed to consolidate and enhance the jurisdiction's framework for corporate transparency. Pursuant to the Beneficial Ownership Act 2025 Commencement Day Notice 2025, the Act is in force as of 3 November 2025.

On 7 November 2025, the Cayman Islands Government announced fee adjustments across the financial services sector to ensure proportionality, align with international standards and improve administrative efficiency by simplifying compliance and reducing the administrative burden. These changes will take effect progressively from 1 January 2026.

On 8 October 2025, the European Banking Authority released a comprehensive report summarising six years of reviews of the approach of national competent authorities on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism supervision across EU/EEA Member States. The report highlights significant progress in the following areas:

The British Virgin Islands introduced its first annual Frozen Assets Reporting process for 2025, aligning with the Virgin Islands’ sanctions framework and UK sanctions legislation. BVI entities, that are in scope for this reporting, are reminded of their mandatory statutory obligation to report frozen assets linked to UK-designated persons.

On 13 October 2025, the UK Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation shared a compelling case study that underscores the importance of due diligence in preventing breaches of UK trade sanctions. The case involves a multinational bank's UK branch, which successfully identified and stopped payments linked to sanctioned goods originating from Russia. This proactive action not only ensured compliance with the Russia Regulations 2019 but also safeguarded the bank's reputation and business interests.

On 23 October 2025, the BVI International Tax Authority published a notice to advise that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development introduced significant updates to the Common Reporting Standards, now referred to as CRS 2.0, alongside the development of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework.

On 15 October 2025, the UK intensified its sanctions against Russia, targeting key sectors of its economy in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. These measures aim to undermine Russia's ability to fund its military operations while signalling the UK's commitment to global security and peace.

On 6 November 2025, the Cayman Islands Financial Reporting Authority published a notice requiring all entities holding frozen assets linked to Designated Persons under UK sanctions law to submit an annual report. This measure is part of global efforts to combat financial crime, terrorism financing and human rights abuses. Here is what you need to know:

On 6 October 2025, the European Supervisory Authorities issued a warning about the risks of crypto-assets. While the EU's new Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation provides some safeguards, the crypto market encompasses a wide range of assets that remain volatile, complex and prone to scams.

On 10 October 2025, the EU Council updated its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, maintaining the same 11 countries: