LONDON: Britain's government agreed on Tuesday to order its overseas territories to make secretive company ownership data public to try to take on corruption and tax avoidance.
Overseas territories and crown dependencies have come below increasing drive to reveal who's in the back of anonymously owned firms, with marketing campaign groups saying such secrecy aids money laundering, tax evasion and corrupt diversion of public budget from growing economies.
Many of those territories, such because the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, have large financial services sectors because they levy low taxes and ownership of companies lacks transparency.
Despite repeated requires more openness, British crown dependencies and overseas territories are most effective required to reveal data on the actual homeowners of offshore firms to regulation enforcement our bodies, after which only if requested.
Alan Duncan, a junior foreign place of job minister, informed parliament the federal government would support an modification brought via two Members of Parliament calling for a central register of company ownership in these territories as lawmakers debated an modification on an anti-money laundering regulation.
"We have listened to the strength of feeling in his house on this issue and accept that it is without a doubt the majority view of this house that the overseas territories should have public registers," Duncan stated.
Britain has been making efforts to clamp down on tax evasion and corrupt flows of cash through its large financial services sector, however has confronted resistance from some of its overseas territories for the reason that secrecy and coffee taxes are what makes their finance sectors horny.
Margaret Hodge, the opposition Labour Member of Parliament who presented the modification, stated it is going to help save you tax evasion and disrupt the actions of criminal gangs and militant groups.
"It will stop them exploiting our secret regime, hiding their toxic wealth and laundering money into the legitimate system, often for nefarious purposes," she stated.
"With open registers we will then know who owns what and where, and we will be able to see where the money flows, and then we will better equipped to root out dirty money and deal with the issues that arise from that."
Duncan Hames, a director of policy at Transparency International UK, stated these territories have been the "Achilles Heel" of Britain's defence in opposition to money laundering.
"Corrupt individuals everywhere will be deeply concerned that they are about to lose the secrecy afforded by the British Overseas Territories that has until now given them an easy route to launder their ill-gotten gains," he stated.
Overseas territories and crown dependencies have come below increasing drive to reveal who's in the back of anonymously owned firms, with marketing campaign groups saying such secrecy aids money laundering, tax evasion and corrupt diversion of public budget from growing economies.
Many of those territories, such because the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, have large financial services sectors because they levy low taxes and ownership of companies lacks transparency.
Despite repeated requires more openness, British crown dependencies and overseas territories are most effective required to reveal data on the actual homeowners of offshore firms to regulation enforcement our bodies, after which only if requested.
Alan Duncan, a junior foreign place of job minister, informed parliament the federal government would support an modification brought via two Members of Parliament calling for a central register of company ownership in these territories as lawmakers debated an modification on an anti-money laundering regulation.
"We have listened to the strength of feeling in his house on this issue and accept that it is without a doubt the majority view of this house that the overseas territories should have public registers," Duncan stated.
Britain has been making efforts to clamp down on tax evasion and corrupt flows of cash through its large financial services sector, however has confronted resistance from some of its overseas territories for the reason that secrecy and coffee taxes are what makes their finance sectors horny.
Margaret Hodge, the opposition Labour Member of Parliament who presented the modification, stated it is going to help save you tax evasion and disrupt the actions of criminal gangs and militant groups.
"It will stop them exploiting our secret regime, hiding their toxic wealth and laundering money into the legitimate system, often for nefarious purposes," she stated.
"With open registers we will then know who owns what and where, and we will be able to see where the money flows, and then we will better equipped to root out dirty money and deal with the issues that arise from that."
Duncan Hames, a director of policy at Transparency International UK, stated these territories have been the "Achilles Heel" of Britain's defence in opposition to money laundering.
"Corrupt individuals everywhere will be deeply concerned that they are about to lose the secrecy afforded by the British Overseas Territories that has until now given them an easy route to launder their ill-gotten gains," he stated.
UK territories ordered to open up about secretive companies
![UK territories ordered to open up about secretive companies]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 02, 2018
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