Registers of Beneficial Ownership of Companies
8. What recent discussions the Government have had
with authorities in the (a) overseas territories and (b) Crown
dependencies on establishing public registers of the
beneficial ownership of companies.[908701]
My noble Friend Lord Ahmad, the Minister responsible for
the overseas territories, along with the
Prime Minister’s anti-corruption champion, my hon. Friend
the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), discussed
the Government’s approach to the Sanctions and Anti-Money
Laundering Act 2018 with overseas territories leaders on 5
December. Government Ministers and officials routinely
discuss with the Crown dependencies a range of matters
relevant to them, including company registers of beneficial
ownership.
Can my right hon. Friend confirm what date the Government
will set in the Order in Council if the overseas territories do not move
voluntarily on this issue, and will he confirm that the end
of 2023 will be far too late, given that it would be five
years after the House voted on it?
As required by the 2018 Act, we will prepare draft
legislation by the end of 2020. All the overseas territories are expected
to have fully functioning public registers in place by the
end of 2023, as my hon. Friend says, as part of the
Government’s call for all countries to make such registers
the global norm by that date. The plan is to make 2023
consistent for both.
From the vantage point of having introduced the original
public register, may I ask the Minister whether he agrees
that it is utterly intolerable that British territories and
dependencies should be used as a covert conduit for British
tax dodgers, and that if they will not reform we should
resort to the sanction of direct rule?
We will stick by the timing, but I think that a lot of work
has already been done so that they could perhaps be in
place before that date. I am confident that progress is
being made as we would wish.
Over and over again the Government have let
the overseas territories off the hook.
Now the Government are saying that the territories do not
need to have public registers of beneficial ownership until
2023—at a cost, incidentally, of £50 billion to the British
taxpayer. The law we passed last May required the
Government to act in 2020. Does that not take the
Government’s contempt for Parliament to a new low?
No. I share the hon. Lady’s view that overseas territories with financial
centres should meet international standards on tax
transparency and anti-money laundering, but
most overseas territories are either
being evaluated or due to be evaluated by the financial
action taskforce and are working to deliver their
commitments made to the European Commission to prevent them
from being included on the EU’s list of non-co-operative
tax jurisdictions.
