As over 800 participants from 205 countries and jurisdiction are meeting this week in Paris in a conference hosted by Financial Action Task Force, FATF, civil society organizations have urged the participants to insist that owners of companies in each country should be displayed in a public register. The civil society organizations that were not invited for that conference claim such public display will help authorities to trace illicit financial behavior anywhere in the world. MONEYVAL’s report which warned that Cyprus could be a destination for black money was acknowledged to rely on investigative journalists to make such a determination. Head of Policy at Transparency International, Max Heywood said TI also supported the idea of public display of company owners.
The Cypriot Finance Ministry issued a response to appreciate MONEYVAl’s report and reiterated Cyprus commitment to following all Financial regulations to the letter. This week’s conference will afford FATF the great chance to revise its current weak recommendation on beneficial ownership transparency and call on members to implement public registers revealing company owners.
