A newly passed law on beneficial ownership will not require businesses to submit additional information but will centralise and streamline data already collected under existing rules, Senator Lisa Cummins told the Senate, positioning the reform as key to safeguarding Barbados’ financial reputation.

In debate on Wednesday, the Senate leader of government business said the act was designed to simplify compliance for businesses while strengthening Barbados’ reputation as a transparent and trustworthy international financial centre.

“The mechanism by which we collect the information is now what is changing,” she said, explaining that beneficial ownership information is already gathered by agencies including the Central Bank of Barbados, the Financial Services Commission and other sectoral regulators.