In October 2016, the International Development Committee put forward 13 recommendations for the improvement of the UK Government efforts to tackle overseas corruption. Last month the UK Government published its response.

The Government agreed with seven recommendations:

  • assess the extent of money laundered through the UK and continue to lobbying the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to apply the same level of transparency and accountability;
  • develop a cross-government Anti-Corruption Strategy;
  • continue prioritisation of anti-corruption efforts during Brexit negotiations and afterwards;
  • apply research into the effectiveness of different anti-corruption methods;
  • include foreign parliaments in DFID’s anti-corruption country strategies;
  • work with foreign governments to increase protection for whistleblowers; and
  • DFID to monitor progress of anti-corruption programmes.

The Government partially agreed with the following four recommendations:

  • reappoint the anti-corruption “Champion”;
  • further work on the inclusion of developing countries in discussions and decisions on international tax matters;
  • develop DFID rolling strategies with a 10 year horizon; and
  • DFID’s publication of anti-corruption country strategies.

The Government disagreed with the following proposals:

  • lobby the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to create public beneficial ownership registers; and
  • publish country by country reporting of profits and payments to governments by multinationals.

The two areas where the Government declined to follow the Committee’s recommendations appear to reflect a concern that although the UK should be seen as a leader in the fight against anti-corruption, it should not go too far ahead. The Government emphasises that the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies already go further than other jurisdictions as they allow law enforcement to access the information. In respect of the publication of profits and payments to governments by multinationals, the Government expressly states that this should be a multilateral effort.

Posted by Jamie Humphreys

Jamie Humphreys is a litigation and regulatory lawyer. He is a strategic advisor to clients who face critical threats to their business at all stages of the product life-cycle, working with them to ensure the most favourable outcome and manage any reputational impact. He also provides policy advice to clients on proposed legislation and regulations that may introduce profound changes to their business. He has acted on high profile litigation across a range of different industries, internal investigations into allegations of fraud by global products manufacturers, major corruption investigations for Governments, and B2B product liability disputes, international recalls and consumer claims for well-known global brands. He is passionate about the impact that new technologies such as 3D printing, AI and Internet of Things will have in the products space and works with clients to ensure they prosper within a dynamic regulatory environment.

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