One of the achievements of the New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership Fourth National Action Plan was a formal commitment from the government to establish a public beneficial ownership register. Such a register would allow the ultimate owners of companies to be identified - a vital measure in preventing corruption, money laundering, and tax-evasion by the rich.
So of course, National has decided to renege on this commitment. A recent Cabinet paper on Modernising the Companies Act 1993 and Making Other Improvements for Business effectively abandoned the idea:
The register would also add a compliance burden to companies (albeit a small one). As such, it does not fit well with the overall scheme of the package. In addition, its complexity would delay the finalisation and introduction of the other reforms. I will work with my Ministerial colleagues in the Justice sector to determine the best way forward for this work.Which is Minister for "we are throwing this in a deep hole and you should never expect to see it again". Exactly why a government which was funded by the rich to deliver tax cuts and beset by corruption scandals would do that is left as an exercise for the reader.
The problem for National is that this isn't just a previous government's policy - its an international commitment under the Open Government Partnership. The refusal to abide by it will be formally reported on by the OGP's Independent Reporting Mechanism. It will also likely cause problems with the Financial Action Task Force, who can actually stick us on a blacklist for failing to meet accepted standard for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. And that is something which would actually hurt, and stop rich National MPs from moving their money overseas.
