Companies: Overseas Territories Registration

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further discussions they have had with Overseas Territories since last year’s Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council about moves towards greater transparency of beneficial ownership for companies registered within their jurisdiction, in the light of the United Kingdom’s chairmanship of the International Anticorruption Summit in May 2016.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Anelay of St Johns) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government have had extensive technical discussions with overseas territory leaders and officials to help them develop a timely, safe and secure process of exchange of company beneficial ownership information for law enforcement purposes. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister informed the other place on 11 April that we had reached agreement to provide UK law enforcement agencies and tax authorities with full access to company beneficial ownership information held in the territories.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

No doubt the Minister will recall that in 2013 the Prime Minister called for public registers of beneficial ownership from our overseas territories. Can she explain to us what British sovereignty means in relation to the overseas territories, which benefit from being under British law and protection, when they have refused to accept the Prime Minister’s proposal and we are told that some actually refused to meet Treasury Ministers last December when they were over here for the overseas territories conference? Does the Minister recognise that this is a question not just of tax but of money laundering? Substantial properties in the UK, including in London, are owned through shell companies by dubious men and dubious countries that have earned their money by dubious means.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, this Government are leading the way in ensuring that there is transparency in tax matters internationally. We often find ourselves leading but not necessarily having the support of all those around the world. The overseas territories are indeed separate jurisdictions with their own democratically elected Governments, under which they are responsible for financial matters. We have worked in partnership with them on this matter and have made great progress on having central registers of beneficial ownership. When my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer met the G5 in the United States last week, he made it clear that further reforms can be made in the future. So this is a work in progress for everybody, but let us recognise the great strides already made by the overseas territories.