LONDON (Sputnik) – The announcement regarding the creation of the anti-corruption center based in London will be made on Thursday, at the global anti-corruption summit in London.
"The UK will create the world’s first ever International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre, hosted in London, in partnership with the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Interpol. Experts, including from the National Crime Agency, will provide international co-ordination and support to help law enforcement agencies and prosecutors work together across borders to investigate and punish corrupt elites and recover stolen assets," Cameron's office said.
Cameron said on Monday that he would use the upcoming global anti-corruption summit to call for intensifying international efforts and greater openness.
The British prime minister is expected to announce on Thursday that the United Kingdom would become the first country in the G20 to have a public record of beneficial ownership in June.
"40 jurisdictions, including a number of Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies with major financial centres have signed up to a ground-breaking international deal to automatically share their beneficial ownership registers with other countries. For the first time, police and law enforcement will be able to see exactly who really owns and controls every company incorporated in these jurisdictions," Cameron's office said.
Other countries expected to launch public registers of true company ownership include France, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Indonesia, Ireland and Georgia are expected to take initial steps towards making similar arrangements, Cameron's office added.
"The new register for foreign companies will mean corrupt individuals and countries will no longer be able to move, launder and hide illicit funds through London’s property market, and will not benefit from our public funds," the statement from Cameron's office explains.
Cameron has come under fire following the Panama Papers allegations for failing to immediately acknowledge his father’s directorship of an offshore investment fund run from the Bahamas. Cameron was later revealed to have received a tax-free inheritance from his father and given gifts by his mother in possible avoidance of inheritance tax.
