Six countries sign up to public register of beneficial ownership but campaigners criticise British territories who will only share information behind closed doors
4.16pm BST
We are fighting a battle, all of us. Corruption, writ large, is as much of an enemy, because it destroys nation states, as some of the extremists we are fighting or the other challenges we face.
ONE calls on countries who attended the anti-corruption summit to urgently implement gold standard policies that ensure fair play. To root out corruption, we need committed and robust action, crucially including the public disclosure of beneficial ownership of companies and trusts.
3.58pm BST
Cameron is asked about the need to push overseas territories and crown dependencies to do more to be open and transparent over the registers of beneficial ownership.
He says the territories have come a long way in agreeing to the automatic sharing of information, and says that goes further than what the United States and some European countries have agreed.
If you think how far they have come in the last few weeks and months, I am convinced we will get them all over that bar [of automatic sharing of registers, which British Virgin Islands has not signed up to do].
The gold standard which I will push for as long as I have breath in my body, is public registers.
3.52pm BST
David Cameron has hailed a “coalition of the committed” for what he described as the biggest demonstration of political will to tackle corruption.
#Cameron closing #AntiCorruptionSummit: If we want to tackle poverty + beat extremism, we have to tackle #corruption pic.twitter.com/ZEJgK8wMDk
Today’s summit is not just about securing the agreements, it’s been a different kind of events, not having speeches and talking to ourselves, having open challenging conversations asking tough questions.
This cannot be a fashion, we have to stay the course for the next 10 years and beyond.
We are talking about stopping the corrupt hiding their loot from authorities. When people steal from your country and hide it in mine, we can find it and return it to you.
3.43pm BST
President Santos is closing the session now. He says the “sisters and brothers of corruption are terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal mining”, which are all part of the same chain. He says heroin from Afghanistan and cocaine from Colombia can be connected to one drug dealer in the UK, and that’s why an international approach is necessary.
He says the Panama Papers show how corruption is “scared of the spotlight” and urges new protection for whistleblowers who he says are under great danger in many countries. Prosecution is also key, he says, because people have to know the process works.
3.34pm BST
Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala says that tackling corruption must go beyond laws and regulation, and become part of the culture. It is not enough to have laws and values, we need resources to change cultures, he said.
He says organised crime intensively uses technology, anyone defending the rights of citizens also need access to those tools. Society as a whole needs to foster transparency as a value, he says, as do private companies.
Corruption is not something that belongs to any country, it is an international scourge and the fight has to be based on international co-operation.
3.29pm BST
Baroness Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth announces she will create an office of criminal and civil justice reform.
I intend to be a magpie for every single good idea to put in to a toolkit for implementation and change.
.@PScotlandCSG sets out #Commonwealth priorities in tackling corruption at today's #anticorruption summit. WATCH https://t.co/Xf1i2oIejm
3.08pm BST
Perhaps another pointed comment at Cameron here from Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat. He says we should not speak about “corrupt countries” but of individuals.
.@JosephMuscat_JM: We shouldn't speak of corrupt countries but of corrupt individuals & i don't know 1 place that is immune #AntiCorruption
3.03pm BST
An Afghan official, tasked with tackling government corruption, is the first to make a jibe at Cameron for his gaffe when speaking to the Queen.
We inherited, and I quote, a ‘fantastically corrupt’ system.
Without political will, there is no way we can fight corruption. No impunity for officials or companies, is a must.
Afghanistan calls for countries to make their data on blacklisted companies public #anticorruption pic.twitter.com/YEZUPh4Yn0
2.51pm BST
Barry Johnston, head of advocacy at ActionAid, said the summit will be remembered for what it will not achieve.
It’s good news that Nigeria, South Africa, France, Afghanistan and the Netherlands have used the summit to take action to publicly reveal the owners of secretive shell companies. David Cameron still hasn’t managed to get British overseas tax havens to meet the same standards.
3 organisations, 1 message - "#DavidCameron must act to end the era of #taxhavens at today's #AntiCorruptionSummit." pic.twitter.com/V4R7iBxxIg
2.39pm BST
Oxfam GB’s chief executive, Mark Goldring, adds his voice to concerns that the communique from the anti-corruption summit does not go far enough.
If corruption is a cancer then this summit has delivered some pain relief but not the major surgery needed to heal the global economy.
Until tax havens are required to publish public registers showing who really profits from shell companies, the corruption and tax dodging revealed by the Panama Papers will continue undisturbed and millions of people in both the UK and the world’s poorest countries will pay the price.
Sadly, tax dodgers can still sleep easily tonight as #AntiCorruptionSummit fails to deliver https://t.co/XaVX8ficW3 pic.twitter.com/J2VWAiY904
2.38pm BST
Laura Stefan, the Romanian anti-corruption campaigner, says a culture change is not easy in places where corruption is forced by economic circumstances.
“We tend to think that anti-corruption is something everybody wants. The establishment, in many of the countries where this is a real problem, does not want it,” she said. “Because they risk losing their assets.”
2.33pm BST
Businessman Strive Masiyiwa is telling a story of when he was approached about buying a stake in a telecommunications company by the former Nigerian state governor James Ibori, and the structure of payment which showed how the transactions were going to take place offshore.
He details how the transaction was being facilitated by British lawyers and advisors, before he pulled out citing his concerns over the details of the deal.
#anticorruption Strive Masiyiwa - it's about impunity yes but in the Ibori case it was about State Prosecution too
2.27pm BST
Sri Lanka’s President Sirisena says corruption is being driven out of his country by democracy, with people voting to remove the previously corrupt administration.
“We consider it our prime duty to root out corruption,” he says.
2.21pm BST
Colombia’s President Santos is opening the session now on driving out corruption, and he is particularly linking it to armed violence, human rights abuses and civil disruption.
En Londres buscamos soluciones con @David_Cameron, @JohnKerry y otros líderes mundiales para acabar la corrupción pic.twitter.com/Ac2L9aBztQ
2.17pm BST
The full communique has been published from the summit.
Corruption is at the heart of so many of the world’s problems. It erodes public trust in government, undermines the rule of law, and may give rise to political and economic grievances that may, in conjunction with other factors, fuel violent extremism.
Tackling corruption is vital for sustaining economic stability and growth, maintaining security of societies, protecting human rights, reducing poverty, protecting the environment for future generations and addressing serious and organised crime.
#anticorruption summit communique is out. Cayman, Jersey and Bermuda will join auto exchange of BO info. Small step pic.twitter.com/Lfk046MuRA
We called on countries to be ambitious and concrete in their proposals to prevent and punish corruption and protect those who stand up against it. Some countries have risen to the challenge and others have not.
The tide is definitely moving toward transparency, and the tax havens and the US are being left behind.
2.00pm BST
The session which will start at 2.10pm is chaired by Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, looking at ‘How do we drive out corruption.’ It’s the last session of the day before Cameron will close the summit.
On the panel is:
1.37pm BST
It’s lunchtime, and I’m taking a short break until the summit restarts at 2pm, but meanwhile here’s a video from the Guardian team, looking at the top 10 most secretive tax havens.
1.36pm BST
Around 50 activists in bowler hats and suits were enjoying the sunshine this morning at Oxfam’s “offshore island” in Trafalgar Square.
Oxfam had raided its props cupboard: there were palm trees, deck chairs, and a stall selling “Swindle Sundaes”, as well as coconuts and a giant plastic lobster. It had also printed fake £100 notes stamped with the words: “The Tax Dodging Bill”.
1.36pm BST
David Cameron is asked about his upcoming conference with the prime minister of Malaysia and allegation of corruption within that country. The PM says Britain will always raise those issues when it trades around the world.
If the reaction is only to say, the only way of dealing with corrupt governments is not to provide any aid, any security and any trade with that country, frankly we’re not going to get very far.
The aim to raise standards all over the world and realise no government is exempt. Trading with a country doesn’t mean you can’t raise issue of concern, in Britain we certainly do.
1.28pm BST
You rarely see this, but Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere group, has mounted a defence of tax havens in a statement sent to journalists. It’s unlikely to win him many friends here at the summit. Green says tax havens are vital to the world economy, and attempts to make the case that tax havens can be moral.
Offshore financial hubs help facilitate optimum allocation of capital, they promote a culture of investment and saving, and due to their competitive tax regimes, it can be reasonably argued that they help promote lower tax policies in other parts of the world.
They offer financial refuge for those who live in nations where there is economic instability, leading to, for example, major currency volatility and out of control inflation; and/or where there is political unrest and persecution from government and the ruling classes.
1.21pm BST
Huang Shuxian, deputy secretary of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist party’s top anti-corruption body, says the country will sign up to the summit’s communique, which promises a transparent register of beneficial owners.
He says China wants to speed up criminal matters, extradition treaties and other methods of joint enforcement.
1.12pm BST
Swiss foreign minister Didier Burkhalter says his government is committed better restitution for victims of corruption. He says there is £100m a day leaving developing countries due to corruption.
If the money comes to us, then we have to make every effort to return [it] to the right owners, to the people. That’s what the Swiss government wants to do, what we are trying to do already.
Developed countries have already returned $5bn, and 40% of that has come from Switzerland.
12.58pm BST
Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, says there has to be a rule of law-based approach that tackles the impunity of those companies and structures favoured by “the rules of the game”. He says corruption in Afghanistan is an enabler of political violence.
We have to have the courage to name the problem. If there is no national ownership and constant denial or blame games, we are not going to get anywhere.
We are asking you and all of Europe to go after drug money, we need very credible action because as long as the criminal economy persists, the networks, the actions we do [will not work].
12.50pm BST
Cameron says powers to protect whistleblowers is an important step that needs to be taken.
He says asset recovery needs additional powers, being announced today by 21 countries. There will be a new global forum for asset recovery, but Cameron also wants to work on disbarring corrupt companies from operating internationally.
12.47pm BST
The next session is chaired by David Cameron on ‘How do we tackle corruption’. He says he wants this to be focused on punishing the corrupt, redress for victims, and how to break the cycle of poverty and corruption.
Speakers on the panel are
12.41pm BST
Masahiko Shibayama, representing the government of Japan, says as a host country for the Rugby world cup and Olympics it will continue to work closely to improve transparency in sport and pledges to put anti-corruption at the heart of the G7 summit.
It’s a long-winded statement which also doesn’t touch on the alleged seven-figure payment from the Tokyo Olympic bid team to the son of Lamine Diack, the disgraced former world athletics chief.
12.35pm BST
The Guardian’s Juliette Garside, one of the team on the Panama Papers, says pressure is building on British Virgin Islands over its stance on sharing beneficial owner information.
Cayman, Jersey and Bermuda signed up to sharing beneficial owner information, and Guernsey in due course - that leaves BVI isolated
12.31pm BST
Chris Holmes, the Paralympic swimmer, says there must be more athlete-centred governance in sport, which will help avert corruption.
Whether it’s grassroots, through to governance, the changing room to the board room, athletes have to be at the centre of sport. Every decision needs to pass that test, is it athletes at the heart of that decision?
I believe we have one simple question for every sporting body to ask itself, every second of every day, will this make a better experience for the athlete?
12.19pm BST
The OECD’s Angel Gurria says sport being autonomous of government interference is no reason for corruption.
Self-governance is not an excuse for bad governance. We cannot have that as an excuse, because it affects public morale, credibility and the problem of trust that we are having.
12.15pm BST
This from the Guardian’s David Pegg on the reticence of the British Virgin Islands to sign up to the automatic exchange of beneficial ownership.
Cayman Islands signing up to automatic exchange of beneficial ownership is significant in one key respect - BVI is now effectively isolated…
@davidtpegg … in holding out against transparency. A Cayman/BVI alliance led the OTs resistance to more transparency. BVI now on its own.
12.13pm BST
Pâquerette Girard Zappelli, ethics director at the IOC said the committee had learnt a lot from the corruption scandal at Salt Lake City in 2002 and is now very proud of its ethics procedures.
We are pushing all the other sports organisations, including Fifa, to achieve a similar level of good governance. It’s something that is very strong.
12.08pm BST
The panel on sport and corruption is starting now with Sierra Leone’s Isha Johansen, the only female president of a football association in Africa, and only one of two on the Fifa board.
I have a mission and a vision, to force good governance into football. Because I believe it can help with the growth and prosperity of that nation.
Corruption is a deadly killer disease. Having lived in Sierra Leone through the ebola crisis, I know the destruction a disease can cause in a society, it can rip through it, it can kill a society.
12.04pm BST
The British Virgin Islands’ premier and minster of finance D Orlando Smith has said his country needs more guarantees that there would be appropriate levels of privacy before it could sign up to implementing a standard on beneficial ownership information exchange. The territory is not signed up to the register announced today by Cameron, and Smith said the nation had not been invited to the summit.
In a statement, Smith said he supported a new globally applied information exchange regime on beneficial ownership, as long as it was “equal and even in its application across the board.”
We believe that achieving this goal requires further details and discussions about how it would apply in practice and be effectively implemented consistently and globally, together with time to assess its impact on the BVI economy in the short and longer term.
We would expect to participate in discussions by international standard setters as the proposed standard is developed and we commit to implement the standard once it is agreed and adopted by all UK Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, G20 and OECD Member States.”
If legitimate businesses fear that their international transactions will be exposed to the world, or, worse yet, accessed by criminals or terrorists and used as a weapon of extortion or intimidation, then the gears of international finance will start to grind more slowly.
11.55am BST
While we wait for the next session to start, this is the take of Neill Blundell, head of the fraud and investigations group at corporate law firm Eversheds, on the criminal offence of ‘failure to prevent economic crime’ which has been proposed by Cameron as a way of tackling money laundering and corporate enabling.
It will be a massive game changer for prosecutors like the UK Serious Fraud Office as it will make it far easier to prosecute corporate wrong-doing. There will be some worried business executives out there today and some hopeful prosecutors.
11.45am BST
The next session is on sport and corruption, chaired by Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee. It’s one of the sessions which has caused the most controversy, with Fifa not invited.
On the panel are:
11.36am BST
Cayman Islands premier Alden McLaughlin is spekaing now, he says his country has “proven our commitment to the global fight against corruption” and that his presence at the summit is a show of good will.
He insists his country has played “a leadership role” in the fight against corruption for 20 years, and meets the standards for the OECD anti-bribery convention and the UN convention against corruption.
Our credentials can not be seriously challenged. I believe we have earned our seat at table to be part of the development of any new global standards.
Cayman Islands rep tells corruption summit if major countries excluded from transparency the result will be continued failure.
There is little point in us continuing the rhetoric if we are to allow major countries to stay outside the global standard.
11.26am BST
Some insight from the Attorney General Jeremy Wright today on how a criminal offence of “failure to prevent” economic crimes such as fraud and money laundering might work. This was something mooted in the prime minister’s Guardian piece today.
Under existing law, a company only faces criminal liability if prosecutors can prove a sufficiently senior person knew about the criminal conduct. It can be extremely hard to prove this, especially in large companies with complex management structures.
A new offence could find companies responsible where they haven’t adequately prevented economic crime.
11.18am BST
Alan Bell, the chief minister of the Isle of Man, says the US has to take more responsibility, not just blame small overseas tax havens. There won’t be real progress, he says, “unless the United States joins in this international agreement” and makes its own tax havens, such as Delaware, more open.
It is all very well to pick on small jurisdictions, unless the US joins this international agreement, unless the US does more and gives confidence to other jurisdictions, it was heartening to hear John Kerry this morning, well, we need action not just fine words.
11.15am BST
The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour says that a free press is vital to tackling corruption, citing the Panama Papers revealed by the Guardian and others. He calls for the protection of whistleblowers who expose corruption.
He also says the government’s promise for a register of beneficial ownership in the UK does not go far enough, and says the government should set a timetable of two or three years for overseas territories to make public registers of ownership.
.@patrickwintour says a free press is vital in fighting #anticorruption + whistleblowers must be protected
11.06am BST
Applause for the Netherlands’ justice minister, Ard van der Steur, he says his country will also commit to a register of beneficial ownership and calls for others to follow.
We do need to have a world-wide system, we need to do it together. If we want to be serious, we need to have such a register everywhere.
Netherlands just announced that they will commit to a public register of beneficial ownership at #anticorruption summit
11.03am BST
Ukraine’s Daria Kaleniuk has been a key advocate for anti-corruption and transparency in the country, post-Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency.
Transparency is very important but it’s not enough, we have to have asset recovery. We have to prosecute. We hope the next step is joint-international criminal investigative teams.
11.00am BST
Norway’s Erma Solberg says that when development is discussed, that climate change, poverty and job creation are all affected by corruption.
Solberg says there are problems with transparency when company ownership is foreign, despite Norway’s register of beneficial ownership. She says that underlines how this is a global issue.
We are not free from corruption, we had heavy fines for two companies recently because they were corrupt in other countries.
10.59am BST
“I want transparency and integrity to be a systematic part of IMF country surveillance,” she said.
.@Lagarde encourages countries to sign up to #IMF's voluntary Fiscal Transparency Evaluation at London #anticorruption summit
10.53am BST
The next session at the summit is ‘How do we expose corruption’, chaired by José Ugaz of Transparency International.
On the panel is:
10.49am BST
Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP and former chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, has this to say on Cameron’s announcement. (OT and CD refers to British overseas territories and crown dependencies.)
Public registers of beneficial ownership in our OTs and CDs is crucial to tackling tax havens & tax avoidance. https://t.co/GkwlbL0HY9
Good announcement by PM on property ownership but devil is in the detail. (1/2) @taxinparliament
Will the registers really be public? How can we get info if tax havens refuse to co-operate and what enforcement is there? @taxinparliament
Real success of anti-corruption conference hinges on PM insisting that OTs & CDs have public registers of beneficial ownership (1/2)
otherwise anti-corruption conference looks like a PR stunt with PM kicking this issue into the long grass (2/2) @taxinparliament
10.45am BST
Adrian Lovett from the ONE campaign asks about overseas territories and crown dependencies, and their participation in the push for anti-corruption.
Cameron says financial centres are not automatically in the wrong, not all rely on a lack of transparency. He says the gold standard will be to have open registers of beneficial ownership, but even many developed states do not do that yet.
We're calling for a public register of beneficial ownership in the British Overseas Territories at #AntiCorruption pic.twitter.com/Z2WKtaxNQ8
Stop the #trilliondollarscandal #anticorruption @ONEcampaignUK pic.twitter.com/Mg5dqKAsiC
10.42am BST
There’s a Q&A starting now, with Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese-British communications entrepreneur, who urges the government to ban shell companies, saying no legitimate business has any need to use them.
Mo Ibrahim: "Legitimate business has no need for secrecy provided anonymous co's." #anticorruption
Mo Ibrahim of the @thebteamhq calls for open contracts and an end to shell companies at the #AntiCorruption Summit pic.twitter.com/qd0xODtzQI
10.39am BST
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, says corruption is going to become more difficult in the modern world.
We are living in a world of radical transparency, whether we like it or not, hackers are going to expose more and more.
10.35am BST
Sarah Chayes, the US author whose book was praised by Cameron, says this is not a question of a few bad apples, it is the work of the biggest criminal organisations on the planet, in some cases terror organisation.
We have all been extremely unintegrated in our efforts to combat this. It is courageous to hold this summit, in this town, now.
You can read Sarah Chayes' chapter on the link between corruption & terrorism in our new book https://t.co/5mPCuI5lEa #AntiCorruption
10.32am BST
President Buhari says the international community must come up with ways of dismantling safe havens and ensure a swifter return of assets.
Nigeria is calling on the summit to create a strategic action plans to facilitate the return of assets and stolen funds, hidden in secret bank accounts abroad, he said.
Buhari - wants mechanisms to combat illegal activity in oil sector incl oil theft #anticorruption pic.twitter.com/Md4MgRIE9b
.@NGRPresident: "International community has looked other way too long." #anticorruption
10.27am BST
Kerry says some nations will see a clampdown on corruption as an opportunity for them to exploit crackdowns elsewhere and make money.
We have to say to them, there is no safe harbour anywhere. No impunity to corruption.
10.24am BST
This is the beginning of something, Kerry says. “We are fighting for our states, countries, our nations,” he says. Corruption destroys nation states, as much as some of the extremists we are fighting.
Some people say that is hogwash, but corruption tears at the fabric of society.
Criminal activity is a literal destroyer of nation states, it contributes to drug trafficking, human trafficking, it creates deep states within states. It is a contributor to terrorism, my friend. Extremism comes with utter sense of desperation from people who feel the system is rigged. People are angry and the anger is going to grow.
10.18am BST
Cameron says he is looking to business for support, saying accountants have sometimes been “enablers” of corruption.
He wants to address how assets can be recovered, with new legislation in 21 new countries, how to tackle corruption and how to punish the corrupt.
10.15am BST
If we want to tackle extremism, we have to tackle corruption. If we want to deal with people not paying their taxes, if we want to deal with money laundering, we have to deal with corruption.
Cameron says the issue hit home for him was when he went with Ban Ki Moon to developing countries to ask about clear goals neededto replace the millenium development goals.
9.58am BST
The summit’s plenary opening session ‘The cost of corruption’ will be starting in the next ten minutes.
David Cameron will make the opening remarks and then we’re expecting to hear from:
9.49am BST
One international body is notable for their absence - Fifa. Corruption in sport is a key focus of the summit but the football governing organisation was not invited by the Prime Minister, despite being mired in a corruption scandal.
Downing Street said the International Olympic Committee would instead be involved in a panel discussion on financial crimes in sport. A Downing Street spokesman told the Telegraph they had invited only one representative body from sport.
There is one focus session which will be on sport, which is clearly, absolutely, the top of the agenda when we are talking about corruption.
They are a special case. They have not been invited, but we are trying to work with them bilaterally.
FAIL -> Neither Panama nor British Virgin Islands were at Cameron's much vaunted anti-corruption summit. https://t.co/c4mDkLYjJ8
9.33am BST
Oxfam have organised a protest in Trafalgar Square, with “bankers” in bowler hats on a beach, representing tax havens.
Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are represented at the summit but others, such as the British Virgin Islands, are not.
It’s time to #EndTaxHavens RT if you agree @David_Cameron must take tough action today #AntiCorruption pic.twitter.com/KyLbcKzts0
Very 'comfortable' on my tax haven.... #endtaxhavens pic.twitter.com/DygotDbDnt
early morning bankers enjoying their #taxhaven @oxfamcampaigns #EndTaxHavens #anticorruption pic.twitter.com/RKcLFAPt86
Life's a beach if you're a tax dodger. Join our pop up tax haven in Trafalgar Square! #EndTaxHavens #anticorruption pic.twitter.com/tYvEbpwa7W
9.24am BST
We’re expecting there to be some protests on the fringes of the summit, with so many world leaders in attendance, though there are relatively few out at the moment, and far outnumbered by police.
9.20am BST
There’s now a livestream of the arrivals at Lancaster House at the top of this live blog, though we don’t expect there to be anything more than arrivals until 10am.
For now, you can see world leaders being greeted by the Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire, accompanied by some tinkling background music.
8.55am BST
Heads of state have begun arriving at Lancaster House for the summit, which begins at 10am with an opening address from David Cameron.
8.32am BST
World leaders, heads of civil society and business are arriving for an anti-corruption summit in the UK capital.
Ahead of the summit, the prime minister announced he would introduce a new corporate offence for executives who fail to prevent fraud or money laundering inside their companies, to counter claims that the aims of the summit ring hollow with London’s reputation as the money laundering capital of the world .
Unfortunately, our experience has been that repatriation of corrupt proceeds is very tedious, time consuming, costly ... The repatriation of identified stolen funds should be done without delay or preconditions.
Continue reading...