Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with counterparts in the Bahamas on improving tax transparency since the leak of internal files from the company register in that country.

The UK has led the way on tax transparency by developing a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information with our international partners. This will see more than 100 jurisdictions exchanging data on offshore accounts with each other, with the Bahamas first exchanging in 2018. The UK has also taken a lead on improving the international accessibility of beneficial ownership information through the launch of a new initiative in April 2016 for automatic exchange of such information between countries on a global basis. Almost 50 jurisdictions have made a political commitment to this initiative to date and the Treasury continues to engage with relevant financial centres.