Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times have exchange of notes arrangements been used in investigations relating to economic crime to share beneficial ownership information between the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories in the last 12 months.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

In 2016 the UK, the three Crown Dependencies and six participating British Overseas Territories committed to share company beneficial ownership information on a bilateral basis between their participating law enforcement agencies.

A statutory review was undertaken in 2019 to review the effectiveness of the first operational 18 months of the Exchange of Notes arrangements, covering the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2018. The review found that in this period, 296 requests were made. Nearly all of these were originated by UK law enforcement agencies and 118 asked for multiple pieces of information in a single request. This equates on average to nearly four requests per week. The full findings of the 2019 statutory review are available here: Statutory review of the implementation of the exchange of notes on beneficial ownership between the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The performance of the Exchange of Notes Arrangements remains subject to annual internal review, with the last 12 months from 2023-24 due for internal review in 2025. UK Law Enforcement Agencies have reported that the arrangements continue to add value by supporting complex investigations into the financial affairs of individuals believed to be involved in serious and organised crime.