Britain has done more to tackle secretive company ownership practices that facilitate corruption than other leading economies, while the US and China are falling short of their promises, a leading anti-corruption group said.
Britain has made good progress on making beneficial ownership information accessible, having legislated for a central registry of individuals who ultimately control companies, but its progress risks being undermined by continuing secrecy in its overseas territories, Transparency International said on Wednesday.
The US and China, the world’s two largest economies, were among the worst performers in the campaign group’s ranking of beneficial ownership transparency among G20 nations, which include many of the world’s largest economies.
“Pick any major corruption scandal in recent history ... and you would find a secret company was used to pay a bribe, shift and hide stolen money, or buy luxury real estate in places like London and New York,” Transparency International managing director Cobus de Swardt said.
“It makes no sense that this gaping loophole for the corrupt remains open. What is stopping G20 nations from actively shutting down this vital avenue to corruption, despite promises to do so,” he said.
The report comes before a G20 summit in Turkey this weekend where leaders are to discuss a set of beneficial ownership principles agreed last year to make it harder for people, including corrupt officials, to hide behind secret companies.
Governments and campaign groups are concerned about company ownership transparency because webs of companies in secretive locations are important vehicles for money laundering. Up to US$2 trillion is laundered each year globally, Transparency International said
The US, which has the largest share of the world’s offshore financial services market, was also criticized earlier this month by campaign group Tax Justice Network for not doing enough to combat international financial secrecy.
Low taxes and high secrecy make many British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, such as the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, attractive places for businesses to register, and vast sums of money flow through them.
“The UK needs to do more to ensure that the Overseas Territories are not used as a safe haven for laundering illicit and corrupt wealth,” said Transparency International, which did not include the countries in its assessment of Britain’s progress.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
RSS