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Offshore Funds: Disclosure of Information

Answer

This government is committed to making the UK a hostile place for illicit finance and economic crime. The Financial Action Task Force has found that the UK has one of the strongest systems in the world for combatting money laundering. However, as a global financial centre, we are determined to go further to crack down on dirty money and financial exploitation, to protect our security and prosperity.

We published a landmark public-private partnership Economic Crime Plan in 2019. The Plan outlines a comprehensive national response to economic crime, and sets out 52 actions being taken by both the public and private sectors to ensure the UK cannot be abused for economic crime.

A key part of going further is working with international partners to tackle cross-border illicit financial flows. In 2016, the UK became the first major economy in the world to implement a public register of company beneficial ownership – the People with Significant Control Register. In June 2021, the UK agreed, with G7 partners, on the importance of strengthening international standards on beneficial ownership, so we have the tools to prevent money laundering through corporate structures. The G7 agreed that beneficial ownership registries – like the UK’s pioneering People with Significant Control register – are a key part of this.

Regarding tax evasion, HMRC already has a great deal of information on individuals and companies that use offshore arrangements to hide money. Each year HMRC gathers tens of millions of items of data through intelligence-gathering, the acquisition of bulk data (including through international data exchange agreements), and through their own expert investigations. HMRC is looking closely at the information the ‎ICIJ has disclosed to see if it reveals anything new to their existing knowledge and investigations.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

58865

Session

2021-22

Subjects

Disclosure of information Offshore funds Wealth

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk