8^th November 2016, London – Last week’s meeting between the UK Government and representatives of the UK Overseas Territories, was a missed opportunity for serious progress on transparency over company ownership, according to Transparency International UK (TI-UK).

The Joint Ministerial Council meeting was the first since the Panama Papers that exposed the role of offshore secrecy in global corruption.

Rachel Davies Teka, Senior Advocacy Manager at Transparency International UK, said:

“It is disappointing that yet another opportunity has been missed to lift the veil of secrecy from the UK Overseas Territories that continue to facilitate global corruption. Although these jurisdictions have taken steps forward by committing to establish central registers of beneficial ownership or ‘similarly effective systems’, it is vital that these registers are made public to allow full scrutiny over the real owners of companies that operate in the UK.”

“The UK has positioned itself as a pioneer of global transparency, but this good work is undermined by the transparency shortfall in its Overseas Territories. Only through a commitment to public registers of beneficial ownership can the Overseas Territories stop being the Achilles heel in ending the UK’s role as a safe haven for corrupt money.”

***ENDS***

Contact:
Dominic Kavakeb
Dominic.kavakeb@transparency.org.uk
020 3096 7695
0796 456 0340