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Angelina Jolie's shares of a French vineyard that she co-owned with ex-husband Brad Pitt are now in the control of a secret trust held in Jersey, it has been reported.
The Chateau Miraval estate, which produces an award-winning sparkling rosé, is at the centre of a long-running court battle between the former celebrity couple – dubbed the "War of the Rosé".
Mr Pitt and Ms Jolie owned the 1,300-acre estate jointly, and even got married in its 17th Century farmhouse in August 2014.
The War of the Rosé has so far been waged in courtrooms in France, Luxembourg and Los Angeles – but recently reached the British Isles after it emerged that Miraval is now co-owned by a secret trust held in Jersey.
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported that Mr Pitt is "demanding answers" about who he co-owns the French vineyard with – once again, thrusting the controversial question of access to beneficial ownership data into the open.
The Daily Mail claimed that "a source close to the actor" said that Mr Pitt "wants Jersey to start providing answers". Express has contacted the JFSC for comment on whether it will be helping Mr Pitt with his enquiries.
Pictured: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie owned the Chateau Miraval estate jointly, and even got married in its 17th Century farmhouse in August 2014.
The War of the Rosé began after the celebrity couple's acrimonious separation in 2016.
Following the split, Ms Jolie sold her stake in the business to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler for $64million in 2021.
Mr Pitt claimed that his ex-wife had breached an agreement that they would give each other first refusal.
Ms Jolie countered that she had offered to sell her Miraval stake to her ex-husband, but that talks fell through after Mr Pitt introduced a provision stopping her from talking publicly about events leading to the split, forcing her to look elsewhere for a buyer.
Pictured: The Chateau Miraval estate produces an award-winning sparkling rosé.
The Financial Times previously reported that Mr Shefler’s company, Stoli Group, alleged that it has been frozen out of the running of Miraval by Mr Pitt.
Ms Jolie and Mr Shefler accused Mr Pitt’s team of launching a “xenophobic, untrue smear campaign worthy of Putin himself”, according to court filings.
Mr Pitt’s lawyers accused Ms Jolie of forcing the actor into a partnership with “a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions” – and argued that Mr Shefler’s ownership “threatens harm to Miraval’s carefully honed reputation and brand” due to his alleged association with Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Stoli Group denied the allegation, telling the Financial Times that “Stoli and Mr Shefler have been fighting a well-publicised and well-documented battle against Putin for over 20 years".
"Mr Shefler’s business practices or professional associations are nothing other than reputable," they added.
However, it has recently emerged that the ultimate owner of the shares is a Jersey trust controlled by a company of which Mr Shefler is not a shareholder.
Current beneficial ownership rules in Jersey mean that it is impossible to tell who is truly behind companies and trusts registered in the island.
Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man pledged in 2019 to bring in public registers to show who ultimately owns companies based in the islands by the end of this year, but decided to change direction last year.
Instead, the jurisdictions are now looking to have registers open for certain due diligence checks by the end of 2024, and then beyond that potentially to journalists and campaign groups.
For the latter to have access, there will have to be proof that there is a “legitimate interest” in viewing the data. What constitutes "legitimate interest" is yet to be defined, however.
Gibraltar is the only Crown Territory or Dependency that already has a publicly accessible register.
Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands also have private registers.
Pictured: Gibraltar is the only Crown Dependency or Territory with a publicly accessible register.
In the EU, 14 of 27 member states have retained full public access to their registers. Some closed them down immediately after the court ruling.
As of July, the likes of Estonia, Slovakia, France, Denmark, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovenia, Latvia, and Poland kept their registers open. Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands suspended public access.
In 2018, the UK Parliament passed legislation requiring the Government to prepare a draft order in council by 2020 to require the Overseas Territories to introduce public registers.
The Government did so, but said it would not make the draft order to enforce these registers until the end of this year.
Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man as Crown Dependencies have a different constitutional relationship with the UK and have staunchly argued that the UK can not legislate for them on this issue.
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