Reuters has sought to obtain a copy of that list from HMRC for more than a year. Nor does it publish the register of firms it authorises as business service providers. their approach to anti-money laundering policies and processes such as customer due diligence.” However, HMRC declined to say how regularly it visits agents or what specific checks it makes. HMRC told Reuters it regularly visits business service providers to “test and challenge. MBE Worldwide, the owner of Mail Boxes Etc., said the UK franchise network follows British laws and regulations, and liaises with the authorities.
The agent renting the mail box did not respond to a letter requesting comment. declined to name the company formation agent renting mail box 11, citing a policy of client confidentiality. said it had not done due diligence checks on these companies and had no direct dealings with them. In turn, more than 100 businesses use mail box 11 as their registered address, and the formation agent that rents the mail box forwards correspondence to them. The entity renting that mail box is a company formation agent, according to staff at Mail Boxes Etc. It is a potential weakness in the system that is illustrated by mail box 11 at Bedford Street. “The whole point with AML (anti money laundering procedures) is that the risk assessment is proportionate and you don’t carry out the whole bureaucratic checks at each stage in the process,” Cowie said. via another business service provider, he assumed that the other business service provider had already done sufficient checks on that client. He said the network did request identification from most but not all customers: If a customer came to Mail Boxes Etc. “No one has raised a concern over it (Mail Box Etc.’s due diligence) with us,” he said.Ĭowie said his network looked out for signs of fraud and conducted due diligence. franchise in the UK, said it is authorised as a business service provider by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and that he believed its operations met HMRC’s requirements. branches said they, too, were unaware of the true owners of offshore-controlled companies based at their offices. None of their names were publicly displayed, as required by the UK Companies Act, at 43 Bedford Street. With all the companies, Reuters could find no sign of physical existence such as other premises or websites. “We don’t know who is behind the companies,” said Nichani. manager at 43 Bedford Street, told Reuters that he had not conducted due diligence on the companies. Reuters examined 55 companies that give 43 Bedford Square as their current registered address, yet are controlled by individuals or entities based offshore in jurisdictions with low corporate transparency such as Vanuatu, Belize or Panama. Yet interviews with industry figures and a Reuters examination of corporate accounts, annual returns and other filings over the past five years show business service providers often do not know the people using their services. A 2015 UK government assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing said it was likely that some business service providers facilitate money laundering “through the creation of complex corporate structures and offshore vehicles to conceal the ownership.” They are required to pay particular attention to clients based offshore or in tax havens. To help prevent fraud, business service providers, which include companies such as Mail Boxes Etc., are legally required to check the identities and backgrounds of their clients. While the UK government is trying to make companies give clear information on their owners and controllers, and while many users of mail boxes are transparent, opaque companies still persist. Some exist there in name only and their ultimate ownership is hard to determine, a Reuters examination of corporate filings found. More than 1,600 companies or partnerships have used 43 Bedford Street as their registered office in the past five years, UK corporate records show. at 43 Bedford Street in London, Britain, August 25, 2016. A man walks past a branch of Mail Boxes Etc.
0 kommentar(er)
