(CB):
73: After Clause 41, insert the following new Clause—
“Public registers of beneficial ownership of companies in the
British overseas territories
(1) For the purpose of preventing money-laundering, the
appropriate Minister must provide all reasonable assistance to
the governments of—(a) Anguilla;(b) Bermuda;(c) the British
Virgin Islands;(d) the Cayman Islands;(e) Montserrat; and(f) the
Turks and Caicos Islands,to enable each of those governments to
establish a publicly accessible register of the beneficial
ownership of companies registered in that government’s
jurisdiction.(2) No later than 1 January 2020 the appropriate
Minister must prepare an Order in Council, and take all
reasonable steps to ensure its implementation, in respect of any
British overseas territories listed in subsection (1) that have
not by that date introduced a publicly accessible register of the
beneficial ownership of companies within their jurisdiction,
requiring them to adopt such a register.(3) In this section a
“publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership of
companies” means a register which, in the opinion of the
appropriate Minister, provides information broadly equivalent to
that available in accordance with the provisions of Part 21A of
the Companies Act 2006 (information about people with significant
control).”
(CB):...Annexe 2 of the adopted conclusions lists
countries in various categories that have agreed to make changes
by the end of this year. It is a large list of countries. In
other words, provided that changes are made by those countries,
in the EU Council’s view they will be fully compliant with the
EU, G20 and OECD thinking in this area. Only two of the six
countries in this amendment are even part of that list of
co-operative countries. Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands,
Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos are not. In that
respect, they are doing rather better than Switzerland or Hong
Kong, which are. Indeed, 23 countries are making changes to
improve transparency. None of the six countries of this amendment
is listed. Twenty-two countries are making changes to anti-BEPS
measures. Those are sophisticated corporate tax dodges. None of
the six countries in this amendment is listed. Twenty-six
countries, including Switzerland and Hong Kong, are making
changes to amend or abolish “harmful tax regimes”. None of the
six countries of this amendment is listed. Six countries,
including Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, have agreed to,
“address concerns relating to economic substance”...
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con):...Another overseas
territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands, recently
reported that their central register is now in its testing phase.
I confirmed in Committee that we have not sought a bilateral
arrangement with Montserrat because it had already committed to
including beneficial ownership information in its existing public
companies register. I am therefore pleased to report that a Bill
requiring the inclusion of beneficial ownership information in
the existing register was introduced in Montserrat’s legislative
Assembly in December. The target date for the addition of
beneficial ownership information to Montserrat’s existing
register is 1 April 2018...
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