Mr Glen, who was responsible for the UK’s financial services industry, added that the UK was working with international partners and bodies to push for transparent company registers to become an global benchmark by 2023.
A spokesman for External Relations has dismissed his claim, however, saying that the Island would only ‘consider’ introducing a transparent register if it became a global standard and had made no commitment.
It is feared that the introduction of a transparent register, which would reveal the true ownership of assets held by companies based in Jersey, could damage the Island’s financial services industry, where client confidentiality is highly valued.
Earlier this year the UK parliament passed an amendment to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill imposing such a register on the British Overseas Territories, such as Bermuda, Cayman and the British Virgin Islands, provoking an outcry in those jurisdictions, which greatly rely on their finance sectors.
A similar clause which would have applied to the Crown Dependencies was dropped at the last minute after constitutional issues concerning the move were flagged.
Former Chief Minister Ian Gorst and his predecessor as External Relations Minister, Sir Philip Bailhache, attended a series of emergency meetings in London before parliament voted on the matter as part of a joint effort to lobby on behalf of the Crown Dependencies.
But Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, a key supporter of the bill who has called for the dependencies to voluntarily introduce transparent registers, said that the clause was not dropped because of any intervention from the Island’s ministers but purely for technical reasons.
In a written question submitted to the UK Treasury, Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins asked whether Mr Glen had met representatives of the Channel Islands to discuss the ‘potential publication’ of their registers of beneficial ownership of companies at some stage.
This week Mr Glen, who is the economic secretary to the UK Treasury, confirmed that he had and said that the UK government was pushing for transparent registers to be internationally imposed.
‘Treasury ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Territories, and of overseas jurisdictions, to discuss issues of mutual importance,’ he said.
‘The government will use its best endeavours, diplomatically and with international partners, including through multilateral fora such as the G20, Financial Action Task Force and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to promote public registers of company beneficial ownership as the global standard by 2023.
‘We would expect the Crown Dependencies to also adopt public registers in that event, and they have committed to doing so.’
Previously, the Island’s External Relations Department has said that it would only ‘consider’ applying a transparent company register if it became the international norm. A spokesman said that this was still the case.
‘The Government of Jersey have consistently said that if public registers of beneficial ownership were to become an international standard, we would consider implementing such a policy in the same way as we have other international standards in this area,’ he said
‘This position has not changed.’
He added that Jersey would continue to adapt to changes in the international climate when they arise.
‘Jersey takes its international responsibilities regarding prevention of financial crime, transparency and tax information exchange with the utmost seriousness,’ he said.
‘We have a strong track record of implementing international standards and that position has been confirmed by leading independent bodies such as MONEYVAL, the OECD Global Forum and the World Bank.
‘Our financial services industry will continue to face external challenges and we will continue to adapt, as we have done in the past, in order to meet these challenges.’
