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Written question asked by Lord Blencathra (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 July 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 August 2019. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 July 2019 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any loss of financial business to UK Overseas Territories if they are the only financial centres of excellence in the world which will have publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership.

Answer

​The UK has had a public register of company beneficial ownership since 2016 and the Government is spearheading an international campaign that seeks to make public registers the global norm by 2023, working with our international partners.

The Crown Dependencies recently committed to implement their own publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership in line with EU norms and Gibraltar has passed legislation which will allow it to introduce publically accessible registers.

The other Overseas Territory (OTs) Governments are working together, and with the UK Government, to ensure they remain in step with international standards on transparency. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working with the OTs to determine the potential financial impact of implementing publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL17283
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Companies British overseas territories Ownership Registration Trade competitiveness
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk