More than 70% of property owners based in Britain but held through shell companies in British overseas territories still remain anonymous, despite promises from London, according to research published on Monday.

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According to a report by the London School of Economics (LSE), in 10% of cases the company does not appear in the Register of Foreign Legal Entities (ROE) at all, and in another 25% of cases the relevant information is not displayed. University of Warwick and Public Data Centre.

The vast majority of these shortcomings are legal in nature and relate to the way these registries are designed, which in particular allows for the use of “trusts”, a form of legal instrument through which companies or individuals can transfer assets managed on behalf of beneficiaries.

Trusts are used in “63% of property cases where all beneficiaries are hidden.”

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An amendment to the Economic Crimes Bill proposes to “close this legal and tax loophole”, “but the Government is opposed”, a study said, as debate on the Economic Crimes Bill resumed in Westminster on Monday.

The ownership registries that now exist were introduced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to “require anonymous foreign owners to reveal their identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind opaque chains of shell companies.”

“Currently, people acting on behalf of trusts do not have to tell the ‘UK authorities’ who they are acting on behalf of,” and the government opposes an amendment that would force them to do so, the statement said.

“We still don’t know who ultimately owns tens of thousands of assets in the UK. The government must act to end this situation, urged Anna Powell-Smith, director of the Center for Public Data.

Anti-corruption and anti-tax evasion groups regularly denounce London and the British Overseas Territories as responsible for massive tax evasion around the world.

On the other hand, the British government claims to be at the forefront of the fight against tax evasion.