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.
U.K. lawmakers will attempt to force the government to improve corporate transparency in its overseas, semi-autonomous jurisdictions, but could end up hindering the passage of key anti-money laundering legislation in the process, sources told ACAMS moneylaundering.com.
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.
Reports last month alleging widespread misuse of shell companies linked to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have drawn undue criticism of the British Virgin Islands, according to two Tortola-based investigators.
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