British leader seeks more transparency from offshore firms

Cameron, who led a one-day summit meeting on corruption on Thursday, outlined proposals to make offshore companies that buy property in Britain reveal their true ownership, forcing those that hide behind complex financial structures to accept transparency.

The same provisions would apply to firms that already own property in the country and to those bidding for British government contracts, Cameron’s office said before the summit meeting.

In practical terms, that would mean that companies buying or owning British property, or tendering for state contracts, would first have to supply information on “beneficial” — that is, real — ownership to a new public register.

Cameron hopes that his announcement, along with indications that other nations may follow suit as well as efforts to automatically exchange information on true ownership, will overcome resistance to change.