How to end secrecy at sea: a new proposal

Offshore secrecy is a problem. Tax evasion, tax avoidance, sanctions evasion, drug cartels, corruption, questionable government contracts – all are made possible by offshore companies whose ownership and accounts are hidden from the public.

We believe that everyone would benefit if all companies, everywhere, were required to publish basic information: their shareholders, directors, beneficial owners and accounts. But previous attempts to force or convince this outcome have stalled.

We propose an alternative. Companies around the world would be invited to publish their basic company details on Companies House. Companies that fail to do so would be subject to a 10% “transparency levy” on all payments they receive from the UK, and would be excluded from government procurement contracts. Companies from countries with fully open company registers would be completely exempt.

The UK could unilaterally introduce the transparency levy. We expect it to be adopted by many other countries – OECD members and developing countries. We would see a new wave of corporate transparency. All that is needed is for the UK to take the first step.

The full proposal can be found here.