Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the press release, PM hosts major summit as part of global drive to expose, publish and drive out corruption, published on 12 May 2016, whether he plans to publish information on the ownership of property in the UK owned by foreign companies.

At the International Anti-Corruption Summit in London on 12 May, my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister announced that we will require foreign companies that own or purchase UK properties or bid on UK government procurement contracts to provide details of their beneficial owners to a public central register. This will be the first register of its kind in the world.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will consult on the detail of the policy later this year. The Prime Minister has committed to a publicly accessible register of foreign company beneficial ownership on which we plan to consult in due course.