UK Commits to Public Beneficial Ownership Registers By Overcoming Territorial Barriers

On 17th November, the British Parliament had session in which the declaration by UK Foreign Office was made about the implementation of fully public beneficiary registers. The Secretary of State for Commonwealth, Foreign and Development Affairs was questioned by a member of Parliament, Phil Brickell, about the establishment of fully public registers.

MP Phil Brickell sought clarification about the ultimate expectation of the department regarding the minimum standards for access to the beneficial owners’ public registers in the overseas territories.  

The UK government re-affirmed its commitment to make public beneficial ownership registers even more accessible despite the privacy concerns of the Overseas Territories (OT) that brought this issue before it. The main objective of publishing such registers is to show the actual owners of the company and deter money laundering cases.

The focus on the decision was sparked after the backlash received from UK Overseas Territories. The UK government has estimated that such territories are actually engaged in enabling a lot of illicit funds across borders.

During the said session, the members of parliament reported the territory’s insignificant approach in introducing public registers by the end of the previous year, 2023. However, almost all those overseas territories have failed to do so.  

During the session, parliamentarians voiced their serious concerns over the failure of overseas territories to establish beneficial ownership registers. According to sources, up to 40% of global illicit funds are traded through these territories. Therefore, a coalition of 40 members of parliament called upon Foreign Secretary David Lammy to ‘pressurize’ the overseas territories and the crown dependencies on making the beneficial ownership registers public.

These registers play a very crucial role in unmasking the real owner of a company. Additionally, analysis of these databases is also required to prevent the crossing of unauthorized monies across borders. 

The conclusion of this session was declared by the Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, who suggested that engagement with several OTs is in progress, and this will briefly be discussed with the Joint Ministerial Council leaders next week. In the near future, further progress by other territories is anticipated as well.   

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