Stubborn stains

28 July 2015 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

Laundered cash hidden in UK property is an unwanted compliment to Britain’s open borders, stable politics and tolerance of anonymity. Privacy may be compromised if things are to be cleaned up. Full transparency, though, is neither in Britain’s gift nor lawmakers’ interest.

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Prime Minister David Cameron on July 28 launched a consultation on how to stop laundered money from pouring into Britain. He unveiled plans to seek fuller disclosure from foreign companies that own property in the United Kingdom.

“London is not a place to store your dodgy cash,” Cameron said in a speech at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

As part of the government’s push to cut down on illicit inflows, the Land Registry, which stores information on ownership and transactions, will publish data in the autumn on which foreign companies own land and property titles in England and Wales.

Of the 40,725 London property titles held by foreign companies, 89 percent are held by companies incorporated in so-called secrecy jurisdictions, according to Transparency International, an anti-corruption campaigning group.

Land Registry records currently only show the title holder of a property, not the ultimate or “beneficial” owner. Over one-third of foreign-owned corporate property holdings in London are held by companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, where data on beneficial owners is entirely confidential.

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