The west's leading industrial countries have agreed a set of core principles designed to combat tax evasion and reveal the true owners of shadowy companies.
A joint declaration by the G8 at their summit in Northern Ireland agreed to share tax information and to change rules that allow companies to shift profits across borders.
But the agreement fell well short of demands made by campaigners, with David Cameron failing to persuade any other G8 country to support Britain's call for registers of public ownership to be made public and resistance to the idea that a G8 plan for automatic exchange of tax information should be extended to poor countries.
Downing Street said the Lough Erne declaration showed that progress was being made in cracking down on tax evasion and six of the G8 countries – including Britain – said they would publish action plans explaining the steps they would take to improve transparency and the control of companies.
Germany and Russia said they would not draw up their own action plans but signed up to a core set of G8 principles, agreed during the past 24 hours.
Despite Cameron's hopes that France, the United States and Italy might join the UK in pressing for public registers, the prime minister was unable to persuade any of his fellow leaders to go with him.
The G8 action plan said: "Beneficial ownership information on companies should be accessible onshore to law enforcement, tax administrations and other relevant authorities, including, as appropriate, financial intelligence units.
"This could be achieved through central registries of company beneficial ownership and basic information at national or state level.
"Countries should consider measures to facilitate access to company beneficial ownership information by financial institutions and other regulated businesses. Some basic company information should be publicly available."
On the separate issue of whether developing countries should be part of an automatic exchange-of-information regime from the outset, the UK is still trying to persuade the rest of the G8 that some poor countries should be part of a pilot that will trial the idea.
The G8 did, however, pledge to provide resources to help developing nations build up the capacity of their tax regimes. One fear, voiced particularly strongly by the US, was that tax information should not be provided by the west to regimes with poor records for inefficiency or corruption.
guardian.co.uk
A joint declaration by the G8 at their summit in Northern Ireland agreed to share tax information and to change rules that allow companies to shift profits across borders.
But the agreement fell well short of demands made by campaigners, with David Cameron failing to persuade any other G8 country to support Britain's call for registers of public ownership to be made public and resistance to the idea that a G8 plan for automatic exchange of tax information should be extended to poor countries.
Downing Street said the Lough Erne declaration showed that progress was being made in cracking down on tax evasion and six of the G8 countries – including Britain – said they would publish action plans explaining the steps they would take to improve transparency and the control of companies.
Germany and Russia said they would not draw up their own action plans but signed up to a core set of G8 principles, agreed during the past 24 hours.
Despite Cameron's hopes that France, the United States and Italy might join the UK in pressing for public registers, the prime minister was unable to persuade any of his fellow leaders to go with him.
The G8 action plan said: "Beneficial ownership information on companies should be accessible onshore to law enforcement, tax administrations and other relevant authorities, including, as appropriate, financial intelligence units.
"This could be achieved through central registries of company beneficial ownership and basic information at national or state level.
"Countries should consider measures to facilitate access to company beneficial ownership information by financial institutions and other regulated businesses. Some basic company information should be publicly available."
On the separate issue of whether developing countries should be part of an automatic exchange-of-information regime from the outset, the UK is still trying to persuade the rest of the G8 that some poor countries should be part of a pilot that will trial the idea.
The G8 did, however, pledge to provide resources to help developing nations build up the capacity of their tax regimes. One fear, voiced particularly strongly by the US, was that tax information should not be provided by the west to regimes with poor records for inefficiency or corruption.
guardian.co.uk
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