Committee publication · Correspondence · 24 February 2026
Letter to the Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation and the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories relating to the transparency of beneficial ownership, 2 February 2026
From: Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls
Inquiry: The UK's trade sanctions regime
Summary
The Business and Trade Committee writes to two ministers requesting information on beneficial ownership transparency in the UK, Crown Dependencies, and Overseas Territories ahead of a planned evidence session. The letter highlights progress under recent Economic Crime Acts but notes concerns: approximately 15–20% of UK company registrations contain false information, trusts controlling British companies lack transparency requirements, and offshore jurisdictions linked to the UK have inconsistent beneficial ownership disclosure standards that may enable Russian assets to be concealed.
Key findings
- Approximately 750,000–1,000,000 UK companies (15–20% of the register) contain false information, indicating significant compliance gaps despite Economic Crime Act reforms.
- UK trusts listed as Persons of Significant Control are not required to disclose beneficiary information to Companies House, lagging behind EU standards on trust transparency.
- Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have adopted 'legitimate interest' access tests for beneficial ownership registers rather than full public disclosure, citing a non-binding 2022 EU Court privacy judgment.
- Intelligence suggests Russian individuals and companies with Kremlin links may be using corporate structures in UK-linked offshore jurisdictions to hold assets.
- Government has stated 'legitimate interest' access is an interim step but has not provided deadlines for progress toward fully public registers.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Liam Byrne MP, Blair McDougall MP, Stephen Doughty MP, Business and Trade Committee, Companies House, Department for Business and Trade, HM Revenue and Customs
Notable line
“This limitation risks inhibiting the ability of journalists, civil society and others to do vital work in uncovering how corporate structures in these offshore centres are used.”
Key Quotes
“The recent Economic Crime Acts 1 have led to significant progress in removing shell companies from the Companies House register and identifying the beneficial ownership of UK companies, but with a significant number of company registrations containing false information there is more to be done.”
“We have heard concerning suggestions that this continued lack of transparency enables Russian individuals and companies with close links to the Kremlin to hold assets in some of these UK-linked jurisdictions.”
“While the Government has said that access to registers in these UK-linked jurisdiction on the basis of a 'legitimate interest' should be an "interim step", 4 it has not provided a timetable for their progress towards fully public registers.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗