A new initiative will see the European Union’s five largest economies, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, exchanging data on beneficial ownership to help reduce tax evasion in the wake of the recent document leaks from Panama.
Piloted by the UK, the five EU countries have agreed to share information held on beneficial ownership register and registers of trusts.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed its support of the move as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, stated that the organisation “very strongly welcomes and supports this new momentum to fight corruption”.
Many have praised the new measure as a positive step however, other opinions suggest that the scope of the plan is not wide enough to make an impact on companies, and further actions must be taken on a global scale.
The Ministers from each country have written letters addressing the other G20 counties, including the US, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, calling for greater cooperation on the exchange of information of beneficial ownership and urging the rest of the G20 nations to adopt similar measures.
Source: Investopedia.com 15 April 2016