Contributions
2,740 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am trying to understand the new clause. How could someone be the beneficial owner of a company and someone else own the assets? If the beneficial owners own the company, how can…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for his amendment. As he set out, new clause 50 would require all companies to have at least one person who ordinarily resides in the UK among their…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Seventeenth sitting)That is exactly how we expect the process to operate. If there are red flags of concern—an exception report, as the hon. Gentleman calls it—the registrar can ask further questions…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)Although I welcome the spirit of the new clause and the hon. Member’s wish to close a loophole, I do not think there is one. Let me set out why. It is his position that persons…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I go back to what I said earlier; I think there are all kinds of ways in which somebody could try to subvert the regulations. That is the reality and that is why we are putting…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)Nothing.24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I am not aware of that. Clearly, it is important that the overseas territories and Crown dependencies respect the will of Parliament and the spirit of the will of Parliament, so…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I do not think we should operate on the basis of rumours, but I hope that the overseas territories and Crown dependencies will be following this debate with interest. We want them…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)That may be something that the right hon. Lady will investigate. I am happy to make the commitment that we will do so as well. The Cayman Islands has completed a consultation on…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)As Ronald Reagan used to say about the Russians: trust, but verify. It is important that we trust our partners but also that we see what they are doing to put these measures into…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)New clause 54 seeks to prevent the acquisition of land in the UK by companies registered in jurisdictions that are listed as high risk by the Financial Action Task Force or so…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)That is exactly what he is saying. Russia is a high-risk jurisdiction; is he saying that no Russian can buy property in the UK?24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)If the right hon. Gentleman is saying that people are guilty until proven innocent, that is entirely the wrong way to look at this issue. Of course, those decisions have to be…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I think I have given way enough on this point.24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)One last time, then.24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)He may not have been, because he was not on the sanctions list at that point, and he was not on a sanctions list anywhere else in the world, as far as I am aware. He may have…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)Yes, undoubtedly, but I think that putting a blanket restriction on bona fide companies and bona fide individuals buying from those jurisdictions is disproportionate and wrong. I…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I might get into trouble with you, Sir Christopher, but on the previous new clause, countries on the high-risk jurisdiction list include Israel, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Is…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)The word “trust” in this context sends shivers down all our spines. I understand the rationale behind the new clause, but the right hon. Member for Barking is right in that I will…24 Nov 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Eighteenth sitting)I just do not think that is right. The right hon. Lady might not have meant this exactly, but even if ownership is reduced—this goes for a company more than a trust—to below 5%,…24 Nov 2022