Government is amending the companies act to subject firms registered here to tighter scrutiny to avoid a threatened blacklisting by the European Union.

Acting leader of government business in the Senate, the minister of tourism and international transport, Senator Lisa Cummings, notes that among other things the amendments ensure a clearer picture of who is actually behind and benefitting financially from these companies.

But she also complained that Barbados is being forced to make adjustments to its company laws because international watchdog agencies are constantly changing the standards for compliance.

Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn supported the bill and agreed with Senator Cummings that the European Union was constantly changing rules because, according to him, they are trying to keep the business for themselves.

But he felt the government agency responsible for registering companies, the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Department, was under-staffed.