How Bermuda uses the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard for its new beneficial ownership register
Bermuda has unveiled an updated beneficial ownership register built by the corporate registry software team at Foster Moore using the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard.
The Beneficial Ownership Data Standard is the world’s leading open standard providing a specification for modelling and exchanging information on the beneficial ownership and control of companies, trusts and other types of entities and arrangements.
On 3rd November 2025, Bermuda’s Registrar of Companies took responsibility for collecting beneficial ownership information on entities registered in the UK overseas territory in line with the Beneficial Ownership Act 2025. The updated register was launched the same day.
Bermuda has used Foster Moore’s Catalyst platform for its company register since 2021 and the new beneficial ownership register has been delivered as an extension to Catalyst:
Foster Moore also has a beneficial ownership register product built using its Verne platform which also uses the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard and the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard visualisation library. This product is already in use by Botswana for its public beneficial ownership register:
In the run-up to the 3rd November launch, Bermuda’s team held a series of webinars to demonstrate the new register and how to file beneficial ownership information using it:
The first webinar featured demonstrations showing how the information submitted is automatically visualised to help understand beneficial ownership networks, thanks to the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard visualisation library:
Further demonstrations were given of how information on relevant legal entities is captured, nominee/nominator relationships are recorded and exemptions are declared for public listed companies and their subsidiaries:
Bermuda is the first jurisdiction in the world to capture nominee and nominator data in line with modelling requirements set out in the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard.
Changes in beneficial ownership have to be reported to the Registrar of Companies within 14 days:
This is another case study of how the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard can be used by corporate registrars and technology companies worldwide to help ensure that more beneficial ownership information is collected in a standardised way to support data sharing and interoperability.
For four years, I was the product owner of the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard, the world’s leading open standard for beneficial ownership information and continue to advocate to improve beneficial ownership data quality and standardisation. To learn more or if you need technical guidance or consultancy support, contact me via beneficialownership.co.uk.
