ICESCR concluding observations 2025, paragraph 21
Plain English recommendation
Government should:
(a) Do more to fight illegal money flows, tax evasion and fraud, especially by wealthy people and companies. Do this by creating lists of companies and trusts that require careful checks into how they do businesses and make these lists available to the public. This will also help other work happening internationally to stop illegal money flows and will support other countries trying to gain money to support economic, social and cultural rights;
(b) Stop and punish the use of fake companies that are created to move money around, avoid taxes or commit fraud. Do this by strengthening laws and protecting the people who report these crimes;
(c) Independently review how financial secrecy and corporate tax rules affect the economies of developing countries outside of the UK.
Original UN recommendation
The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments, the relevant authorities of the Crown dependencies and the overseas territories:
(a) Strengthen efforts to combat illicit financial flows, tax evasion and fraud, particularly by wealthy individuals and businesses, by establishing public registries of companies and trusts with mandatory due diligence, thereby supporting international initiatives to that effect and helping other States to mobilize resources for realizing economic, social and cultural rights;
(b) Prevent and punish the use of shell companies for profit-shifting, tax evasion and fraud by strengthening its legal framework and reinforcing whistle-blower protection measures;
(c) Conduct an independent, participatory impact assessment of the extra-territorial effects of its financial secrecy and corporate tax policies on the economies of developing countries.
Date of UN examination
12/03/2025
Original UN document
Download the original ICESCR concluding observations 2025 on the UN website.
Last updated on 21/08/2025