Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking together with the Overseas Territories to improve the transparency of the beneficial ownership of assets.

On 21 November, the Foreign Secretary launched his campaign to tackle illicit finance and corruption. Tackling financial secrecy by raising the bar on corporate transparency globally, including in partnership with the Overseas Territories, will be an important priority within this campaign.

At the Joint Ministerial Council last month, I confirmed the UK Government's expectation that OTs implement fully public registers of beneficial ownership. Fully public registers have already been introduced in Montserrat and Gibraltar, and commitments were made by the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena to introduce these by April 2025. Saint Helena has recently passed relevant legislation.

Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands committed to implement registers of beneficial ownership accessible to those with legitimate interest, which offer the maximum possible degree of access and transparency whilst containing the necessary safeguards to protect the right to privacy in line with respective constitutions, at the latest by June 2025.