The Cayman Islands will open the thousands of companies and hedge funds domiciled on the offshore Caribbean territory to greater scrutiny, in a break from decades of secrecy.

The British overseas territory, which has been criticised as being one of the most secretive finance jurisdictions in the world, is introducing reforms that will make public the names of thousands of previously hidden companies and their directors, reports the Financial Times,

CIMA, the islands' monetary authority, sent proposals, seen by the FT , to Cayman-based hedge funds and outlined plans to create a public database of funds domiciled on the island for the first time and will also list the funds directors, pending an ongoing consultation process due to close in mid-March.

In the 24 months subsequent to the onset of the financial crisis, the BVI Financial Services Commission, the Central Bank of Ireland (OTC BB: IRLD - news) , the Jersey Financial Services Commission, the Bahamas Financial Services Board and the Isle of Man Supervision Commission all updated their corporate governance codes, laws and/or regulations, the FT reports CIMA said in one document.

CIMA did not respond to the FT's request for a comment.

The Cayman Islands are seen as a tax-haven by many companies to avoid payer higher rates of tax in other countries.

Last month, filings showed that Facebook hid almost half a billion pounds in a Cayman Islands tax haven last year in an effort to avoid paying tax in Britain and its other main markets.

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Cayman Islands to name previously hidden companies