ONE Welcomes UK Commitment to Transparency and Urges Further Steps

The ONE Campaign today welcomed the announcements by the Prime Minister that the UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have stepped forward to play their part in the fight against corruption and that the UK government intends to lift the veil of secrecy on the hidden deals that prevent African countries from retaining and investing the resources they need to invest in poverty reduction.

Michael Elliott, ONE’s CEO and President, said:

“Today’s announcements mark an important step forward in the global effort to ensure that developing countries are able to retain and invest more of their own resources. David Cameron and his government have demonstrated strong leadership in placing tax and transparency at the forefront of the G8 agenda, and have begun to deliver today. But more needs to be done. All G8 countries need to crack down on the use of secret companies, through implementing public registries of beneficial ownership, as the Prime Minister has said. They should also put in place a system for the automatic exchange of tax information, with developing countries involved from the start. We need to see more progress on these issues over the coming days. By taking these steps, the G8 can make sure that it not only puts its own house in order, but does so in ways that work for people beyond the G8 too.”