South Africa: Money Laundering and Corruption

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Eatwell

Thursday 17th October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Eatwell (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, following on from the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, can the Minister tell us when there is going to be a verified register of beneficial ownership in the United Kingdom?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

A public register is already operational, and because of it we have already seen certain illicit flows of finance being tackled directly. The noble Lord shakes his head; I disagree with him. He will also know that the Government have prioritised this whole issue of tackling corruption and illicit finance. There are further proposals that will come forward, but public registers in themselves are not the only solution. It requires work across the piece, including tackling money laundering and having an effective sanctions policy. We are working on those proposals, as I told the noble Lord, Lord Collins.