Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by Transparency International entitled Investing with Integrity, published in July 2022, if he will make an assessment of progress made by British International Investment in implementing the report's recommendations on (a) publishing publicly accessible anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies, (b) the use of offshore jurisdictions in investment structures and (c) the use of corporate vehicles incorporated in offshore jurisdictions which do not meet the higher of OECD or local standards on releasing identity and beneficial ownership information.

British International Investment (BII) is committed to raising sector standards around business integrity risk management and supported Transparency International in developing the Investing with Integrity project.

BII's Policy on Responsible Investing (the Policy) is aligned to international best practice - including on bribery and corruption (available on BII's website https://assets.cdcgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14074359/Policy-on-Responsible-Investing.pdf). BII also complies with relevant anti-money laundering, bribery and corruption legislation (Policy statements available on https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/22173454/Commitment-to-Anti-Bribery-and-Corruption-1-1.pdf and https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/22173645/Commitment-to-Anti-Money-Laundering-and-Counter-terrorism-Financing-2.pdf).

BII only uses offshore jurisdictions in circumstances of weak governance in the countries of their intended investees to protect UK taxpayer funds or to pool capital from multiple countries. The offshore jurisdictions chosen are compliant with international tax transparency standards, as monitored by the OECD. BII's tax policy is available online (https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/05114116/Tax-Policy-2022.pdf).