UK committed to laws revealing company ownership

It is hoped that an international agreement on new tax rules will make it more difficult to set up companies in offshore tax havens which carry out no business activities but are used to conceal the ultimate owners of taxable assets.

Following discussions with the leaders of the G8 countries and Chancellor George Osborne at the Lough Erne summit, David Cameron said an agreement had been reached on a UK action plan to prevent misuse of companies and legal arrangements.

The plan, published by No 10, commits Britain to using legislation to ensure that all companies know who ultimately owns and controls them and to require them to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership.