Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 1
Second report - The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine
Published 30 Jun 2022
Paragraph 8
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee Responding to illicit and emerging finance All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Committee underlines the imperative of implementing beneficial ownership rules and robust reform of Companies House, including new powers for the company registrar to verify information to ensure accuracy as well as discretionary powers to remove corporate entities from the register for wrongdoing and ensure robust identity verification requirements. It is important that beneficial ownership registers are as transparent as possible.
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Second report - The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine (HC 168), paragraph 8, 30 June 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 October 2022.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it is "not complacent about the threat" and, while it agrees with the Committee on several recommendations, it "notes" many others and rejects the Committee's call for public beneficial ownership registers in the Overseas Territories by early 2023.
- On Companies House reform, it "agrees with the Committee's conclusion" and says the reforms, including identity verification and broader Registrar powers, will be legislated for in the upcoming Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill.
- On Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, it "does not accept" that work on public registers is delayed and expects them "by the end of 2023"; bringing the deadline forward to early 2023 "would not be achievable".
- On funding for law enforcement, it "notes this conclusion" and points to a package of "circa £400 million" to tackle economic crime over three years.
- On the Tier 1 Investor visa review, it "notes this recommendation", says the review "is being finalised" and that its aim is to publish it "in the near future".