TODAY’S revelations in the Sunday Herald highlight the scale and reach of secrecy jurisdictions in Scottish landownership. From flats in Glasgow to extensive hunting estates in the Highlands, unknown persons are hiding behind the corporate veil of Panamanian companies and the Scottish public are being denied information about who owns Scotland.
But why should this information be a revelation in the first place? Why should this newspaper have to pay a substantial sum of money to obtain public records? [The Sunday Herald had to pay a fee to access the data used in the accompanying investigation]
Last October, data for all overseas-owned land and property was published by the Land Registry of England and Wales. Here in Scotland, however, the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland refuses even to publish digital boundary data that Scottish ministers are obliged to under the EU Inspire Directive – data which, again, the Land Registry has published in full in England and Wales.
BACKGROUND: The definitive list of land owned by firms in Panama
Scotland is lagging behind other European countries in relation to open data. Despite plans to make land information more easily available, critical landownership information will still sit behind an expensive paywall.
Regarding secrecy jurisdictions, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 requires Scottish ministers to publish a register of those with controlling interests in land, and consultation on this is imminent. The register will require Balshamill Sociedad Anonima and Ranita Management SA to declare who controls these anonymous companies. The problem is that there is no way of verifying whether this information is true since the Panamanian authorities are under no obligation to divulge any data to Scottish authorities.
During the passage of the Land Reform Act, the Scottish Government resisted more radical and longstanding proposals to simply ban companies in secrecy jurisdictions from acquiring land in Scotland in the first place. The only way to ensure full transparency is to insist that anyone owning land and property in Scotland must register it in the name of a legal entity that is fully transparent from the outset.
People do not own property in the name of Panamanian companies for trivial reasons. Tax avoidance or evasion, concealing assets from divorce proceedings, criminal enterprises and money-laundering cannot be discounted as possible explanations for ownership. Scottish authorities and Parliament should be doing everything in their power to ensure our land is not used for such activity. Where powers are reserved, Scottish ministers and MPs should be working to overcome any barriers.
Meanwhile, we should make all land information we hold freely available to the public to enhance transparency and scrutiny.
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