Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has had discussions with the Crown Dependencies on the establishment of beneficial ownership registers for those companies incorporated under their jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement.

The Prime Minister has made clear that he would like a publicly accessible central register of company beneficial ownership to be the new international standard.

Her Majesty's Treasury and other Departments are in dialogue with the Crown Dependencies about UK policy in this area and progress on the wider G20 transparency agenda.

The role of my Department is to manage the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies. We have discussed the subject of beneficial ownership with the Crown Dependencies where it impacts on that relationship.

As self-governing Dependencies of the Crown with their own directly elected legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and their own courts of law, the establishment of company beneficial ownership registers rests with the government in each jurisdiction.