Today, the UK’s Overseas Territories announced that they would put information on the people who ultimately own and control companies – so-called beneficial owners – in centralised registries ‘or similarly effective systems’, representing a small step towards greater transparency. However, the Territories have refused to match the UK’s commitment to make beneficial ownership information public.
The UK’s Overseas Territories lie at the heart of the global secrecy industry; companies registered here are the most abused in the world. - Rosie Sharpe, campaigner at Global Witness
A study by the World Bank into more than 200 cases of grand corruption concluded that companies from the UK’s Overseas Territories are most popular with the corrupt.
“Creating centralised registries of company ownership is a small step forward but it falls short of what is needed. The information must be fully public,” said Sharpe.
“This measure may help the UK track down tax evaders and the corrupt, but what about the rest of the world? The only way for tax inspectors and law enforcement to easily know that someone is hiding money in a bank account that belongs to a company is for information on the people who own and control companies to be public,” said Sharpe.
One of the Overseas Territories, Montserrat, recently announced that it will make information on beneficial owners public, albeit not online and for a small fee.
“David Cameron is hosting an anti-corruption summit next May. But the UK will lack credibility in calling for other countries to get better at tackling corruption when its own backyard remains shrouded in secrecy. We need a fully public register,” said Sharpe. “David Cameron said that he would continue to make the case to the Overseas Territories for company ownership transparency. Private centralised information is not a transparency measure.”
In addition to falling short as a result of not making beneficial ownership information public, there are also concerns that:
- No timetable is set out.
- The Communique allows the Overseas Territories
to create ‘similarly effective systems’ but does not define what this means.
/ ENDS
Notes to editor:
The UK has been pushing for the Overseas Territories beneficial ownership information to meet three criteria:
- UK and domestic law enforcement and tax
authorities must be able to access info without restriction.
- UK and domestic law enforcement and tax
authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular
beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and
repeated requests.
- Companies or their beneficial owners must not be
alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
Meeting these criteria may help UK law enforcement, but what about the rest of the world?
You might also like
-
Campaign Anonymous Company Owners
Paper companies are the getaway cars for the world’s criminal and corrupt – we must take away the keys.
-
Blog post The UK must get tough with the tax havens for its anti-corruption efforts to work
The UK must get tough with the tax havens for its anti-corruption efforts to work
-
Briefing Anonymous Companies – The Story So Far
Momentum is gathering behind the global campaign to close the loopholes that allow the criminal and corrupt to cover their tracks.