In June, the United Kingdom Government told its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to come up with plans to compile registers of beneficial ownership of companies domiciled in their jurisdictions.

The aim is to bring greater transparency to the corporate world to help tax collectors identify tax avoiders and evaders.

But many questions remain:

Will the registers apply to trusts and other offshore entities or just companies?

Will law enforcement have access to them for non-tax investigations and under what circumstances?

Will they be made available to the general public?

And what are the penalties for jurisdictions that refuse to compile them?

At the upcoming OffshoreAlert Conference in London, representatives from the authorities in Jersey, the Isle of Man, and the British Virgin Islands will discuss their plans to compile such registers.

The practicalities, potential impact on business, and procedures currently in place for determining beneficial ownership will be addressed by Colin Powell, Adviser on International Affairs to the Jersey Government; David Griffin, Director of Enforcement at the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission; and Cherno Jallow QC, Director of Policy, Research and Statistics at the BVI Financial Services Commission & Chair of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

They will be joined by Rosie Sharpe, an Investigator with Global Witness, which provided input in the process that led to the U. K. Government demanding that registers be produced.

The session on ‘Beneficial Ownership Registries: Options for Britain’s Crown Dependencies & Overseas Territories’ will be preceded by a complementary session that will look at how offshore jurisdictions compare in terms of banking secrecy, recording of beneficial ownership registries for trusts, foundations, and companies, availability to the public of corporate share registers and accounts, anti-money laundering, tax information exchange, international judicial co-operation, and other areas.

In total, there will be 13 sessions for providers, clients and investigators of offshore products and services – all aimed at helping attendees understand what is happening in the world of international finance.

The OffshoreAlert Conference will take place at The Bloomsbury Hotel, in London, on November 14-15, 2013. Information about the event can be found at http://www.offshorealert.com/conference/london

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The OffshoreAlert Conference London 2013

A Financial Intelligence & Investigations Conference, 14-15 November 2013, The Bloomsbury Hotel, London

The OffshoreAlert Conference London 2013 is being held on 14-15 November 2013 at The Bloomsbury Hotel located at 16-22 Great Russell St. in London, United Kingdom.

WHEN

Thursday, November 14, 2013 – Friday, November 15, 2013

09:00 – 17:30 GMT Time

VENUE

The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street London, United Kingdom

Over 20 senior speakers from onshore and offshore jurisdictions will come together at OffshoreAlert’s upcoming Financial Intelligence & Investigations Conference in London.

They will speak on a range of topics affecting offshore finance, including tax, legal, financial transparency, due diligence, compliance, political, regulatory, fraud, asset recovery, and other issues.

Speakers include:

David Gauke, MP and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury of the U. K. Government

Jennie Granger, Director General, Enforcement & Compliance at HM Revenue & Customs;

Dan Reeves, who headed the tax evasion investigation into Swiss and other foreign banks by the IRS in the United States;

Colin Powell, Jersey Government Adviser, International Affairs;

David Griffin, Director of Enforcement, Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission; and

Cherno Jallow QC, Director of Policy, Research and Statistics, with the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission & Chair of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

There will be 13 sessions for providers, clients and investigators of offshore products and services, including:

Offshore Finance: Trends & Developments

Financial Transparency: A Comparison of Jurisdictions;

How to Identify Red Flags in International Finance;

Beneficial Ownership Registries: Options for Britain’s Crown Dependencies & Overseas Territories;

The OECD ‘Action Plan’ to Close Corporate Tax Avoidance Loopholes;

HMRC’s Investigation into Offshore Tax Evasion;

Using Offshore Jurisdictions to Protect Data;

Cross-Border Law Enforcement Meets Cross-Border Banking;

‘Offshore Leaks’: Inside the Investigation into OFCs by The Guardian & The ICIJ

“Our conference is a neutral forum where attendees will receive credible and up-to-date information that will help them to avoid trouble and capitalize on opportunities,” says OffshoreAlert’s owner and editor, David Marchant.

The OffshoreAlert Conference London will take place at The Bloomsbury Hotel, in London, on November 14-15, 2013.

Professionals involved in the areas of tax, law, funds, company administration, compliance, regulations, investigations, and asset recovery will benefit from attending this event.

About OffshoreAlert

OffshoreAlert is a news website founded in 1997 by investigative reporter David Marchant and offers news, documents & intelligence about businesses and individuals operating in Offshore Financial Centers, with an emphasis on fraud investigations. OffshoreAlert also holds conferences in North America and Europe tailored for the offshore world.

The OffshoreAlert Conference London is our Second Annual European Financial Intelligence & Investigations event and is the sister event to our flagship Annual Miami Conference, which has been the leading conference on Offshore Financial Centres in North America for more than a decade.

For schedule see attached

For more details go to: http://www.offshorealert.com/conference/london/