Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, what discussions he has had with the governments of the Overseas Territories on support required to introduce publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers.

The Prime Minister and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister for the Commonwealth and UN, held a conference call with leaders of Overseas Territories with financial centres on 24 May to discuss the issue, and a further discussion was held at the Joint Ministerial Council in June. Shortly after the passage of this legislation Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon visited Anguilla, the Cayman Islands and Montserrat, where he held discussions on this topic. Similarly, in late July, Lord Ahmad visited the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and met with representatives of the financial services industry and government of BVI. Montserrat and Gibraltar have already committed to establishing a public register of company beneficial ownership.