This project will develop how blockchain technology will support accurate, verifiable, and open records of beneficial ownership information through relevant stakeholder engagement.
Many international governments and anti-money laundering bodies call for public, central registers of beneficial owners towards strengthening corporate transparency, with an aim of preventing criminals concealing illicit wealth through obscuring the real beneficial owner behind companies used to launder money and evade taxes.
Yet, research has identified that these registers are fraught with trust, privacy, compliance and legal issues and relevant verification infrastructure is needed to check beneficial ownership data accordingly. This project will provide a better understanding for governments, regulators and
businesses towards building a more trusted, transparent and effective beneficial ownership system.
The Project aims to develop a framework for thedisclosure of beneficial owners that will drive future improvements in blockchain application and impact government policy, anti-money laundering regulations, and related law.
- The disclosure of beneficial ownership.
- The technological, social and legal challenges in implementing a decentralised register of beneficial owners based on blockchain.
- What these insights mean for business, governments, regulators, law enforcement and wider society.
- How such a system work in practice. How to adopt the technical infrastructure, mitigate concerns around trust, data privacy, sharing of information and verification and compliance issues.
- Establishing a clear pathway to a future more global beneficial ownership system being implemented.
Dr. Paul Gilmour is a Senior Lecturer in Economic Crime, course leader of the MSc Economic Crime (campus) degree, and lead of the Economic Crime Research Group at the University of Portsmouth.
Prior to this, he served for nearly 20 years in the UK police service, most recently, as a detective specialising in criminal investigations. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Financial Crime and Journal of Money Laundering Control.
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