Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill Debate

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Department: Home Office
Priti Patel Portrait Priti Patel
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Not just yet.

As I have said, further measures are coming shortly in other legislation and some of them will take more time to be developed.

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Portrait Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)
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On the vexed issue of trusts, whether they be domestic or, more likely, foreign, if they are of a discretionary nature, there is no absolute beneficiary, by their very definition. They may be tucked away in a trust deed in some foreign jurisdiction of which we do not have details. I have looked through the legislation and can see no way in which we can penetrate some of those trusts. I do not even know whether we should, because of the nature of discretionary trusts, for which there will be a list of potential beneficiaries but no absolute beneficiary. The legislation will catch absolute beneficiaries, but I cannot see how discretionary trusts can be caught or, frankly, ever could be.