They put the spotlight on Britain by highlighting the role played by its overseas tax havens and British lawyers and accountants, and revealing how many offshore firms are used to buy London property.
Advertisement
Some critics said they doubted that Britain’s new register would make much impact unless overseas tax havens cooperated by also making public the names of those who own companies.
A handful of countries agreed Thursday to publish lists of who really owns companies in their territories, a move hailed by the British government as a step toward stopping a global plague of tax evasion, money-laundering and bribery.
Foreign companies that have bought or are planning to buy property in the United Kingdom will be forced to make public the names of individuals behind the firms.
Britain is also creating an worldwide anti-corruption centre in London, backed by the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Interpol, to coordinate cross-border operations investigating corrupt elites and trying to recover stolen assets.
The Anti-Corruption Summit commenced at 10 a, m. London time at Lancaster House under the auspices of British Prime Minister David Cameron.President Sirisena was accorded a warm welcome upon his arrival to the summit.
“It destroys jobs and holds back growth, costing the world economy billions of pounds every year”.
Mr Scott said the register would only be really effective if it was global and all G20 and worldwide financial centres took part.
But charities and opposition politicians said Britain must go farther and insist that the territories’ ownership registers are made public.
He said the Cayman Islands had required company providers to collect and verify information for the past 15 years, but he ruled out putting it into the public domain.
Mr Cameron’s position as host of the two-day summit was made more awkward after he was caught on camera branding two participating states – Nigeria and Afghanistan – as “fantastically corrupt”.
Cameron had referred to Nigeria and Afghanistan as “fantastically corrupt countries”, a remark that sparked a wave of criticisms.
And it is expected that the Chinese delegation will be expressing the country’s determination to continue its iron-fisted efforts in uprooting corruption.
Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos speaks on the podium during a panel discussion at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London, Thursday, May 12, 2016.
The Global Forum for Asset Recovery will bring together governments and law enforcement agencies to discuss returning assets to Nigeria, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.
The Queen did not respond to Mr Cameron’s unguarded comments.
Advertisement
The summit aims to get leaders of nations, business and civil society to agree on measures to expose corruption, punish perpetrators, support the people affected and to “drive out the culture of corruption wherever it exists”, the British government said.
