The Concealed Beneficiaries behind Fictional Characters
Tbilisi. IDFI published a policy Document – “The Concealed Beneficiaries behind Fictional Characters”.
„Beneficial ownership has become one of the most hotly debated topics globally. Governments, as well as international and civil society actors, are trying hard to implement new regulations tackling problems associated with beneficial ownership“, - Is mentioned in the document, - “Though Georgia became a member of the Open Governance Partnership and pushed for more transparency, the government largely ignored the recommendations of non-governmental organizations and, particularly, of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), for creating a registry of beneficial ownership. It should be noted that the Government of Georgia took the obligation to consider creating such a registry in 2016, during the Anti-corruption Summit in London, but never fulfilled it. Additionally, on the Anti-corruption Summit, Georgia undertook the following commitments: ensure that law enforcement agencies have access to information about the beneficial owners of offshore companies; sign bilateral agreements with partner countries for the purpose of exchanging this information; take necessary steps in order to ensure the transparency of ownership of companies taking part in public procurement; form public-private information sharing partnerships aimed at detecting, preventing and disrupting money laundering. Though overall, it can be argued that Georgia has implemented positive measures towards the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken at the Anti-corruption Summit in London, it failed to execute any significant actions in achieving the transparency of the beneficial ownership. Therefore, the problems in the sphere of beneficial ownership still remain”.
Source: The web-page of the organization
