Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK Crown Dependency and Overseas Territories permit incorporation of a company without official proof of identity of promoters, directors, and shareholders.

The Crown Dependencies (CDs) and Overseas Territories (OTs) are separate legal jurisdictions to the United Kingdom and responsible for their own domestic affairs including, in those CDs and OTs with provisions for financial services, the responsibility for regulation and company registry in their jurisdictions.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 amends the Companies Act 2006 to mandate identity verification requirements for those setting up and controlling companies in the UK. This will apply to directors and PSCs (people with significant control) of existing companies and any new companies being incorporated. Companies registered in the CDs and OTs with a place of business or branch in the UK will also be required to have their directors and PSCs identities verified.

The UK Government is committed to working with international financial centres, including the CDs and OTs, to help tackle illicit finance, including increasing the transparency of their corporate beneficial ownership registers. The UK's ultimate expectation of the CDs and OTs remains fully public registers.