Turner Little look at the news that David Cameron faced calls to honour his promise on tax transparency when he met with British overseas territories.
Leading on tax transparency
This week he met with the heads of British overseas territories in London. Ahead of these meetings, 11 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) wrote to the Prime Minister to ask him to crack down on the abuse of ‘shell companies.’ They also used it as an opportunity to remind him of the promise he made in the Conservative Party 2010 election manifesto; to “continue to lead the world on tax and transparency.”
Company ownership registers
UK overseas territories such as the British Virgin and Cayman Islands, which are mostly self-governing but are still partially subject to UK law, don’t have central public registers of company ownership – a public listing which provides information about who owns firms in a country.
This has allowed for the establishment ‘shell companies,’ a non-trading company used for financial purposes, in these territories. David Cameron promised in the Conservative Party 2010 election manifesto to lead the world when it comes to ‘tax transparency.’
He has repeatedly called for the government of British overseas territories to introduce central public registers of company ownership. This would allow law enforcement agencies to trace the criminals behind firms that are currently anonymous, because they’re based within these territories.
NGO’s appeal
The signatories of the letter, which has been seen by the Guardian, included the heads of Christian Aid and Transparency International UK. It said: “The UK-linked overseas territories, including the British Virgin and Cayman Islands, are leading international suppliers of anonymity, enabling many to hide from the authorities, especially in the world’s poorest countries. Tax havens are not just facilitating tax dodging, they also facilitate corruption.”
The charities also wrote: “The failure of these territories to heed your 2013 call for ‘proper companies, proper taxes, proper rules’, is a national embarrassment and undermines UK leadership on this, and other fronts, in tackling global poverty and corruption.” The NGOs asked Cameron to shine a light on this issue at his meeting with the heads of the overseas territories, as this “will help governments from Uganda to the UK claim what’s rightfully owed to them.”
Turner Little
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