Who really owns what? Beneficial ownership reforms gain ground in the Pacific

 By Ron Rocky Coloma

A single question posed at the start of a regional transparency webinar stopped many in their tracks: "Have you heard of beneficial ownership before?" It wasn’t just a conversation starter. It was a litmus test for how well Pacific island nations understand the invisible networks of company control that often underpin financial crimes.

Emily Manuel, senior regional manager for Asia Pacific at Open Ownership based in Manila, discussed how beneficial ownership transparency reforms are helping Pacific governments expose corruption, improve accountability and build stronger institutions.

"Globally, 70 percent of grand corruption cases involve anonymously owned companies," Manuel said. "Beneficial ownership transparency helps uncover who really controls and profits from a company. That kind of knowledge is power."

Beneficial ownership, she explained, focuses on the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity. While many countries collect data on legal owners — the people whose names appear on registration documents — these individuals are often not the true beneficiaries. Instead, the real decision-makers and profit-takers may be hidden behind layers of shell companies or trusts, masking illicit activity such as money laundering, terrorist financing or tax evasion.

ADVERTISEMENT

The webinar, hosted by Transparency International, brought together experts across the Pacific, including UNDP project leads, civil society organizers and youth advocates, to share how beneficial ownership reforms are being implemented across the region.

Florica Dragomir, project manager for the United Nations Development Program's Pacific Anti-Corruption Project, provided insight into regional efforts.

Speaking from Fiji, she detailed how Pacific countries are at different stages of implementing beneficial ownership registries — centralized databases that reveal who truly owns and benefits from legal entities.

"One of the best practices is starting with a strong legal framework," Dragomir said. "That way, when countries build out the registry technology, they already know what the system needs to capture."

Several countries have moved toward digitizing business registries to accommodate beneficial ownership data. Tonga is introducing legal amendments to integrate beneficial ownership requirements. The Cook Islands is upgrading from a manual to an automated system. Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are improving inter-agency cooperation and data sharing.

Still, Dragomir acknowledged the roadblocks. "Many jurisdictions lack technical capacity and institutional know-how to manage these reforms," she said. "It's not just about passing the law. It's about sustaining it."

She also highlighted the regional registry platform developed by the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative, a technical assistance program supported by Australia, New Zealand and the Asian Development Bank. The platform allows Pacific Island countries to implement registries efficiently, avoiding the costs associated with custom systems.

As Pacific nations weigh legal mandates and data access, they must also tackle the question of public disclosure. While some registries are private and only accessible to authorities, others are open to journalists, civil society organizations and the public.

"Data use is where the real benefit comes in," Manuel said. "Collecting data is not enough if no one can use it to spot red flags."

Deffnie Thompson, a journalist and scriptwriter based in Vanuatu, emphasized this point. As a youth advocate for the Pacific Youth Forum Against Corruption, she focuses on empowering young people through media literacy and civic engagement.

"Youth want to create change," Thompson said. "But they need tools to know where to begin. We created a toolkit that helps young people understand how corruption affects them and how to organize workshops in their communities."

She also trains youth leaders to use smartphones to record interviews and create short media pieces on transparency and governance issues. The content is often picked up by radio stations and online platforms in Port Vila and beyond.

But access remains a challenge. In some cases, even journalists do not know how or where to find beneficial ownership data.

"If the data is collected but not public or not explained clearly, it's hard for us to use it," Thompson said. "So, raising awareness is key."

That awareness is slowly growing. In Nauru, for instance, the government has taken early steps to embed beneficial ownership reforms directly into the business registration process.

Aarushi Chauhan, a delegate from Nauru’s business registry, shared how the country mandates companies to disclose beneficial owners at the time of registration. Law enforcement, financial intelligence units and customs authorities also have access.

"We don't issue registration certificates until beneficial ownership information is submitted," Chauhan said. "That ensures compliance from day one."

Nauru is also working with the Asian Development Bank to improve and digitize its registry. In 2023, it introduced a beneficial ownership declaration form, becoming the first in the Pacific to require such a document.

Still, public interest remains low.

"We get more queries from government agencies than the public," Chauhan said. "That could be because people don't yet understand how to use the information."

To close the loop between data and action, experts at the forum agreed that Pacific civil society organizations must play a bigger role.

"Advocating for public access, accuracy and usability of data should be a top priority," Manuel said. "Otherwise, the risk is that the information stays locked up in a black box."

Dragomir echoed the point. "We need not just workshops, but sustained mentoring, exchange programs and advisory missions," she said. "Capacity building is not a one-time event."

Internationally, momentum is building. Open Ownership has supported beneficial ownership reforms in more than 35 countries. Global databases such as the UK’s People with Significant Control register and the Offshore Leaks database maintained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists provide examples of publicly accessible platforms.

Manuel presented a case study regarding journalists in Argentina who exposed offshore windfarm deals linked to a politically connected person because they accessed Luxembourg’s public registry. The investigation uncovered a series of companies registered across several jurisdictions, ultimately tracing financial benefits to the president's brother.

"That was only possible because they had access to the data," Manuel said. "And because they knew what to look for."

In her closing remarks, Thompson showed an image of a canoe retrofitted with a fiberglass Yamaha engine. It was a metaphor, she said, for the region's ability to adapt.

"We come from different places — journalists, advocates, policymakers. But we all want the same thing: transparency," she said. "If someone can put a motor on a canoe and cross the sea, then we can implement beneficial ownership reforms."

Dragomir agreed. "Pacific nations don’t have to start from scratch," she said. "They can learn from each other and from countries that have already built successful systems."

Subscribe to

our digital

monthly edition