22^nd March 2018, London – Transparency International welcomes the publication by the Government today of its response to the call for evidence on a register of the beneficial owners of overseas companies owning UK property. But the confirmation that this register won’t be operational until 2021, later than the Government’s original deadline, remains of deep concern.

Duncan Hames, Director of Policy at Transparency International UK, said:

“We welcome that the Government has finally published this response, it began this consultation almost a year ago. We are pleased that the Government has held firm in its intention to bring transparency to who really owns the companies that hold property in the UK. However, their lack of urgency is disappointing. They had planned for legislation to be introduced by next month but this has been delayed by at least a year.”

“The Prime Minister and other Government officials have not been shy in recent weeks in speaking about cracking down on corrupt money in the UK. The best way to do this is to bring about transparency to holdings of UK property which overseas companies currently avoid.”

 “The longer we have to wait for this register, the longer corrupt individuals will be able to use the UK property market to hide their wealth. It continues to have cross-party support so there really is no reason for any further delay. A government committed to tackling corrupt money in the UK should make this a legislative priority.”

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