Companies House: Filing of Annual Accounts by Small Companies

Lord Hain Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. It is important that people must be able to rely on the data that is on file with Companies House, whether they are doing business with a particular company or to determine whether the company’s financial statements are accurate. Most companies file their accounts on time and accurately. A small minority of companies do not file their accounts on time or, perhaps, properly. This Act hopefully will go after those small companies. We are not imposing burdens on small businesses. We just want to tackle economic crime.

[Lord Hain (Lab)]

My Lords, on the Economic Crime Act 2023, can my noble friend explain what the Government are doing to block the £90 billion that is laundered through the United Kingdom annually, often by kleptocrats buying properties or via “onshore London” as a means of tax avoidance in UK Overseas Territories or Crown dependencies, labelled “Britain’s second Empire”, such as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands especially, the Bahamas, Gibraltar, Bermuda and the former UK colonies of Singapore and Hong Kong?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My noble friend makes a very important point. The cost of economic crime and financial opacity is staggering. It costs something like £350 billion a year to this country. Tackling illicit finance has been a top priority for this Government from day 1. We welcome the progress that has been made by many overseas territories in improving access to beneficial ownership registers to boost transparency. For those that have yet to deliver, we have made clear the importance of meeting their agreed-upon commitments and have offered technical help. However, our position is firm. Rapid and robust action is expected. The UK will not tolerate any part of its network being used to conceal dirty money or hinder law enforcement.