The petition was launched by Avaaz member Christoph Schott who, in a strongly worded accompanying email, calls on “friends across the UK” to pressure Jersey into “unmask[ing] the real owners of companies stashing their cash [on Jersey]”.
Schott also refers to a consultation launched by the Jersey Government last year on public register, in response to comments made by prime minister David Cameron.
The petition follows news last week that business secretary Vince Cable plans to make it mandatory for all UK companies to list their beneficial owners.
The announcement comes after the European Parliament approved draft anti-money laundering rules that would require the ultimate owners of companies and trusts to be listed in public registers in all EU countries.
Furthermore, UK prime minster David Cameron last year said 10 of Britain’s overseas territories and crown dependencies needed to begin to make beneficial ownership information about the companies in their borders more readily available “to law enforcement [agencies] and tax collectors”, saying, “put simply…we need to know who really owns and controls each and every company”.
The new UK registry outlined by Cable would require parliamentary approval. All those with a 25% or greater share of a company’s ownership or voting rights would be named, and the list would be updated annually.
In his email, Schott said getting Jersey to create a register “could be the start of a domino effect which leaves tax dodgers nowhere to hide”.
Schott added: “Across the world, tax evasion creates unfair advantages for the super-rich and robs citizens of what's rightfully theirs. In developing countries, this can mean the loss of much-needed resources which should be spent on the fight against poverty, on better care for deadly but treatable illnesses, and on education.
“Too often, tax evaders get away with cheating legitimate businesses, dancing around the law and hiding their illicit funds in anonymous shell companies. During his leadership of the G8, prime minister Cameron urged the the whole world to "move towards public registers of beneficial ownership", and expose the owners of these shell companies. Now it's time for Jersey to follow the UK's lead.”
This article was amended on 30 April to reflect that Jersey launched its consultation last year.
