Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to verify the bona fides and relevant beneficial interests of companies registered in the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas territories.

The British Government believes that a central register is the best way to improve transparency of company ownership and control. The Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories are separate jurisdictions with their own elected governments under which they are responsible for the bona fides and beneficial interests of companies registered in their jurisdiction. At the December Joint Ministerial Council the UK and Overseas Territory Leaders agreed to work together in raising international standards and to meet again to take forward implementation of the G20 principles on beneficial ownership. Dialogue has continued since the Joint Ministerial Council and we plan to meet again in the coming weeks.

All jurisdictions, including the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies, will be subject to assessment against the international standards for anti-money laundering set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This will specifically look at the effectiveness of each country’s regimes, including those for beneficial ownership. These assessments will take place over the coming years and the results of them will be publicly available.