The Journey 2007-2016
Stacey-Jo Smith
Companies House, UK
Monica Grahn
Swedish Companies Registrations Office
The Journey 2007-2016
Members of the Working Group
• Hayley E. Clarke, Canada
• Kasper Sengeløv, Denmark
• Celia Johnston, Germany
• Jens Grobelny, Germany
• Rolf König, Germany
• Snežana Tošić, Serbia
• Latha Kunjappa, Singapore
• Annika Bränström, Sweden
• Monica Grahn, Sweden
• Magdalena Norlin Schönfeldt, Sweden
• Stacey-Jo Smith, UK
• Marissa Soto-Ortiz, USA
2017-06-21 2
The Journey 2007-2016
Changes to the Survey Timeline
The Survey
February – June 2017
Writing the Report October/November
2017
Completed Report
February 2018
2017-06-21 3
The Journey 2007-2016
Interim ReportThe Journey 2007 - 2016
2017-06-21 4
The Journey 2007-2016
The Digital Journey
2017-06-21 5
The Journey 2007-2016
The World is (Becoming) Digitised
2017-06-21 6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Proportion of the Population Using the Internet
Africa Asia and Pacific The Americas Arab States CIS Europe World
The Journey 2007-2016
What about Business Registries?
Filing Services
2017-06-21 7
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Filing Services Provided on the Website
Electronic filing of documents for entity formation Electronic filing of documents for changes in the register
The Journey 2007-2016
Online Registration
2017-06-21 8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2007 2008 2009 2010
Possibility to Completely Register Online
Sole trader General partnership Private limited company Public limited company
The Journey 2007-2016
Mandatory e-Services
2017-06-21 9
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Mandatory e-Services
Sole trader General partnership Private limited companies
Public limited companies Limited company/corporation LLC
The Journey 2007-2016
Positive Effect on Processing Times
2017-06-21 10
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Num
ber
of
ho
urs
Processing Times for Electronically Submitted Documents
Electronic submission for formation/incorporation Electronic submission for changes
The Journey 2007-2016
Case Studies
2017-06-21 11
The Journey 2007-2016
Case Studies - We learned that …
2017-06-21 12
… we need to be digital
ready through regulations
and legislation.
… we need digital
infrastructure and to be
prepared for the cost.
… the role of the Business
Register’s workforce may
change.
… we see an overall
increase of electronic
filing, which results in
faster processing times.
The Journey 2007-2016
Beneficial Ownership
2017-06-21 13
The Journey 2007-2016
A lack of Corporate Transparency
• Came into sharp focus due to the release of the
Panama papers in April 2016
• It was a well-known issue before that:
‒ G8 summit in Lough Erne in 2013
‒ G20 summit in Brisbane 2014
‒ FATF Recomendations
‒ EU Fourth Anti Money Laundering Directive
2017-06-21 14
The Journey 2007-2016
What is a Beneficial Owner?
2017-06-21 15
A natural person who directly or
indirectly exercises ultimate control
over a legal entity or arrangement,
and the definition of ownership covers
control through other means in
addition to legal ownership*.
*Definition provided by Transparency International
The Journey 2007-2016
Europe
2017-06-21 16
• The main focus is on meeting the transposition deadline of the Fourth AML
• ECRF is hosting bi-annual workshops for its members
• So far Jersey (as a third country) and the UK have implemented Beneficial Ownership registers
The Journey 2007-2016
Asia-Pacific
2017-06-21 17
• Most jurisdictions have not yet implemented Beneficial Ownership registers
• There are jurisdictions with reporting requirements for certain company types
‒ Australia
‒ Hong Kong
‒ Malaysia
‒ New Zealand
The Journey 2007-2016
Africa and the Middle East
2017-06-21 18
The registration of beneficial
ownership details is still a relatively
new concept in Africa and the Middle
East. Most jurisdictions in Africa are
now in the process of discussing and
adopting the relevant legislation.
The Journey 2007-2016
The Americas – USA and Canada
2017-06-21 19
• Business registries in the USA and Canada not required
by law to collect beneficial owner information
• Legislation in Canada requires some financial
institutions to identify and verify this information.
• Several financial institutions in the USA will be required
to do receive and verify beneficial ownership as of May
11, 2018
The Journey 2007-2016
The Digital Age – Challenges Past and Present
2017-06-21 20
• Past
‒ Transparency vs. Privacy
‒ Structure of Business
Registries
‒ Long term data storage
‒ Economic Crime
‒ Unique id/Identification
‒ Automation
• Present
‒ Beneficial Ownership
‒ Enforcement and
compliance
‒ Cross border
communication and
identification
‒ Open data vs. fees
‒ Lack of resources
The Journey 2007-2016
… and in the Future
2017-06-21 21
• The Digital Age
‒ Digital filing
‒ New technologies
‒ Interoperability and Exchange
‒ Legislation
The Journey 2007-2016
Thanks!Stacey & Monica
2017-06-21 22
Top Related