Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
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.
Answered by Vicky Ford
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).
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what power the Government has to investigate private banks registered in British Overseas Territories for alleged money laundering.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Overseas Territories are separate jurisdictions with their own democratically elected Governments, Constitutions and laws under which Territory authorities are responsible for the regulation of banks. It is primarily for the law enforcement authorities of the Territories to deal with any allegations brought to them. UK law enforcement authorities would only become involved if the allegations involved criminality in the United Kingdom.
The Caribbean Overseas Territories and Bermuda are active members of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, one of Financial Action Task Force associated bodies. They are subject to evaluations of their anti-money laundering regimes through this body and these assessments are publicly available.
The UK and Territory Governments have a shared agenda on the application of high international standards for financial regulation. Most recently at the 2014 Joint Ministerial Council Territory Leaders agreed to work with the UK in raising international standards to tackle money laundering, tax evasion, illicit finance and corruption.