Laws gazetted on 8 August 2019 included the following:
- Companies (Amendment) Law, 2019; and
- Limited Liability Companies (Amendment) Law, 2019.
Both Amendments are in force, except as noted below. They make certain information related to companies and LLCs, respectively, more accessible and increase the penalties for failure to comply with beneficial ownership registration requirements. The Registrar is now required, upon receipt of a written request, to provide information to the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Financial Crimes Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, the Financial Reporting Authority, the Tax Information Authority and any competent authority (as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Law) which is assigned responsibility for monitoring compliance with money laundering regulations under that Law. The information must be required to discharge any function or exercise any power of the requesting authority under specified laws.
The principal Laws have also been amended to require, among other things:
- in the case of the Companies Law, that:
- a company’s register of members also disclose (a) the number and category of shares held by each member; and (b) a statement whether each relevant category of shares held by a member carries “voting rights” (as defined in amended section 40) under the company’s articles of association and, if so, whether such voting rights are conditional;
- a company notify the Registrar of a change in its directors or officers within 30 (instead of 60) days of the change; and
- the Registrar make a list of the names of the directors and alternate directors (if any) of a company available for inspection by any person (upon payment of a fee of $50 per inspection) (this provision is not yet in force); and
- in the case of the Limited Liability Companies Law, that the Registrar make a list of the managers of an LLC available for inspection by any person (upon payment of the prescribed fee) (this provision is not yet in force).
