12th Special Report - Moscow's Gold: Russian Corruption in the UK: Government response to the Committee’s Eighth Report

This is the government's response, published 5 September 2018.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government "notes" the Committee's report and says tackling illicit finance is a priority, agreeing with some recommendations while setting out why it does not take others forward as framed.

• On the En+ listing, it says the FCA "retains independence from the Government", that En+ was not subject to EU/UN sanctions when it listed, and that the Treasury "has no power to intervene to block a floatation on national security grounds".
• On human rights sanctions, it intends to publish names of those sanctioned for gross human rights violations on gov.uk, "unless there are specific reasons not to do so", and is "giving further consideration to the format of this administrative list".
• On the register of overseas entities owning UK property, it committed to publish the draft Bill before the summer recess, with the intention to introduce the Bill "early in the second session", following consideration of comments received post-publication.
• On public beneficial ownership registers in the Overseas Territories, it "agrees with the Foreign Affairs Committee recommendation on providing assistance" and will use its "best endeavours" to promote public registers as the global standard "by 2023", without adopting the Committee's 2020 date.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error