New powers to crack down on money laundering and corruption are on the verge of becoming law.
The Criminal Finances Bill was backed by MPs as they agreed to a host of amendments by the Lords.
The Bill gives law enforcement agencies the power to seize assets from those with unexplained wealth and creates a new corporate offence of failure to prevent tax evasion.
Home Office minister Ben Wallace said the Bill would also make Britain’s overseas territories and crown dependencies among the most transparent in the world.
There have been widespread concerns about their use as offshore tax havens and a lack of transparency.
The new legislation will compel the territories to inform law enforcement agencies of the beneficial ownership of companies registered there.
Mr Wallace said: “Once these commitments have been implemented, they will put the UK and our overseas territories and crown dependencies well ahead of most jurisdictions in terms of transparency, including many of our G20 partners and other major corporate and financial centres, including some states in the United States.
“These arrangements will prevent criminals from hiding behind anonymous shell companies and bring significant benefits in terms of the capacity and information the UK law enforcement authorities will have at their disposal to tackle criminal activity and investigate bribery and corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.”
Both Labour and SNP MPs felt the measures did not go far enough, instead calling for beneficial ownership registers to be made public.
Changes accepted to the Bill include reducing the threshold of unexplained wealth orders from £100,000 to £50,000, as well as including powers for betting slips to be seized if it is thought the bet was placed with criminal money.
It also paves the way for a review of Scottish Limited Partnerships, amidst claims the law is being exploited as a money-laundering front for international organised crime.