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Corruption causes extremism, Cameron tells summit Anti-corruption summit launches global plan to recover stolen assets
(about 3 hours later)
David Cameron said cracking down on corruption was needed to "tackle extremism". A plan to speed up international efforts on asset recovery was announced by David Cameron at a summit in London.
The prime minister made the comments at an anti-corruption summit in London that he is hosting. The Global Forum for Asset Recovery will bring together governments and law enforcement agencies to discuss returning assets to Nigeria, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.
The summit is part of Mr Cameron's attempt to lead a wider global effort to crack down on corruption. The meeting will be held in the US next year, co-hosted with the UK, and supported by the UN and the World Bank.
Foreign firms that own property in the UK must declare their assets publicly in a bid to stamp out money-laundering, the government has said. The prime minister was hosting a global anti-corruption summit.
"The absolute key is having greater transparency. And you can see countries committing to exchanging more tax information, exchanging more ownership information and -- in the case of the United Kingdom and some others -- actually for the first time, having not just a beneficial ownership register -- who owns what -- but also making that public so it can be investigated by others," Mr Cameron said. It was being hailed as the first of its kind, bringing together governments, business and civil society.
John Kerry, US secretary of State, said corruption threatened countries because it fed crime and terrorism: "Corruption, writ large, is as much of an enemy because it destroys nation states as some of the extremists we're fighting." However, it was overshadowed by controversy after it emerged that Mr Cameron had described Nigeria and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt", while meeting the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury while telling them of the summit.
Mr Cameron said that people in developing countries wanted justice as much as they wanted clean water and health care. The president of one of the countries singled out by Mr Cameron as "fantastically corrupt" was at the conference.
'Illicit funds' But Nigeria's president Buhari made no reference to the comments.
The Nigerian leader said the international community must come up with ways of getting rid of safe havens and ensuring a better return of assets.
"When it comes to tackling corruption the international community has looked the other way for far too long," he said.
Property
There has been concern recently that the UK, particularly London, had become a place where rich foreigners could buy properties but hide their ownership.
Mr Cameron said that should stop and foreign firms that own property in the UK must declare their assets in a public register.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron's plans for a register of foreign companies owning UK property would include those who already owned property in the UK as well as those seeking to buy.Downing Street said Mr Cameron's plans for a register of foreign companies owning UK property would include those who already owned property in the UK as well as those seeking to buy.
It said the register would mean "corrupt individuals and countries will no longer be able to move, launder and hide illicit funds through London's property market, and will not benefit from our public funds".It said the register would mean "corrupt individuals and countries will no longer be able to move, launder and hide illicit funds through London's property market, and will not benefit from our public funds".
It said foreign companies owned about 100,000 properties in England and Wales and that more than 44,000 of these were in London.It said foreign companies owned about 100,000 properties in England and Wales and that more than 44,000 of these were in London.
World leaders and politicians, including the presidents of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Colombia are attending the summit, as well as organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The gathering aims to produce a global declaration against corruption. Five other countries including France, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Afghanistan have also pledged to launch public registers of true company ownership. Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Indonesia, Ireland and Georgia announced initial steps towards similar arrangements.
Tax havens with UK links, including Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are represented, but the British Virgin Islands is not at the summit. Neither is FIFA, football's governing body, which is at the centre of a large bribery scandal. World leaders and politicians, including the presidents of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Colombia attended the summit, as well as organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But critics say the UK's overseas territories and Crown dependencies also need to be more transparent.
Tax havensTax havens
Some of the UK's overseas territories and Crown dependencies will join 33 other countries in agreeing to share automatically their own registers of company ownership, information that will be accessible to the police and tax authorities. Tax havens with UK links, including Bermuda and the Cayman Islands were represented, but the British Virgin Islands was not at the summit. Neither was FIFA, football's governing body, which is at the centre of a large bribery scandal.
Campaigners and charities such as Oxfam would like the UK's overseas territories and Crown dependencies to go one step further and make their registers public. The British Virgin Islands has not yet signed up to the automatic sharing of it register, but the Prime Minister defended Britain's overseas territories saying they had come a long way.
Alan Bell, the chief minister of the Isle of Man, which is a Crown dependency, said progress could not be made unless the US did more and tackled its own tax havens such as the state of Delaware.
Mr Kerry said this month President Obama's administration had announced a set of financial regulations designed to force companies to disclose more information about their owners.
There are also plans for a new anti-corruption co-ordination centre in London and a wider corporate offence for executives who fail to prevent fraud or money laundering inside their companies.There are also plans for a new anti-corruption co-ordination centre in London and a wider corporate offence for executives who fail to prevent fraud or money laundering inside their companies.
Mr Cameron said they were looking for greater transparency and were introducing a code of conduct for professionals such as accountants, solicitors and estate agents who enabled corruption, either knowingly or unknowingly.Mr Cameron said they were looking for greater transparency and were introducing a code of conduct for professionals such as accountants, solicitors and estate agents who enabled corruption, either knowingly or unknowingly.
He wanted to see how assets could be recovered, with legislation being introduced in 21 new countries.He wanted to see how assets could be recovered, with legislation being introduced in 21 new countries.
The anti-corruption summit is being hailed as the first of its kind, bringing together governments, business and civil society.
The summit was overshadowed by controversy after it emerged that Mr Cameron had described Nigeria and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt".
'Battling hard'
He made the comment while talking to the Queen at Buckingham Palace and his words were caught on camera.
The PM later said the countries' leaders were "battling hard" to tackle the problem.
President Buhari, speaking at Thursday's conference, made no reference to the comments.
The Nigerian leader said the international community must come up with ways of getting rid of safe havens and ensuring a better return of assets.
"When it comes to tackling corruption the international community has looked the other way for far too long," he said.