Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason 2023 has been established as the new deadline for the creation of public registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories.

The Government will prepare draft legislation by the end of 2020, as required by the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.

The Overseas Territories (OTs) will be expected to have public registers in place by the end of 2023 in line with the UK Government's global campaign to make public registers the global norm by then.

It is important that the OTs with financial centres meet international standards on tax transparency and anti-money laundering. Most OTs are either currently being or due to be evaluated by the Financial Action Task Force and are also working to deliver their commitments to the EU Commission to prevent them being included on the EU's list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.