The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade ( of Lainston) (Con):...Some
very high-quality points were raised by the noble Lord, , about his amendment, which I
also ask him not to press. Having said that, to cover his points,
the demand and need for the right type of qualifications and
skill sets is absolutely apparent. I am interested in his
comments about forensic accountants. A number of different law
enforcement bodies are associated with Companies House and this
work. Specifically outlining who Companies House should liaise
with seems to me slightly impractical. It will depend on the
judgment of Companies House to ensure it passes the information
to the right organisation. Organisations include
the National Crime
Agency the City of London Police and HMRC, as
listed, and the Insolvency Service, which is also a very
important investigative component and to some extent sits
alongside Companies House, doing the actual investigations in
many of the relevant areas...
...I thank my noble friend for his Amendment 24.
I assure him that I do not think it is necessary to achieve his
intentions. Provisions in the Bill already allow Companies House
proactively to share data more widely for purposes connected with
its functions. Data sharing will also be permitted to assist
public authorities with exercising their own functions. This will
include government bodies such as OFSI, which is part of His
Majesty’s Treasury, the National Crime
Agency and so on. Examples of data sharing could be
for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of data provided to
the registrar to ensure the register is kept up to date or for
passing on intelligence to law enforcement agencies to minimise
criminal activity...
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