U.K. overseas territories will not be required to set up public registers of beneficial ownership after Prime Minister Theresa May's government struck a deal with lawmakers to allow the passage of new anti-money laundering rules before national elections commence in June.
The House of Commons on Tuesday unanimously backed new powers for investigators to seize property and other domestic assets from blacklisted human rights abusers anywhere in the world, putting the United Kingdom on course to become the third country to adopt such a measure.
The British government has rejected calls by lawmakers to impose more-stringent corporate transparency standards on U.K. overseas territories and dependencies, claiming that the jurisdictions are already "well ahead" of other international tax havens.
The British government should compel its offshore territories and dependencies to publicly disclose corporate ownership data in a bid to prevent tax avoidance, a parliamentary group said in a report Thursday.
print