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Clamp Down On 'Dirty Money' In UK Property

There should be a global crackdown on the "cancer of corruption", David Cameron has said, amid concerns the London property market has become a "safe haven" for "dirty money".

In the biggest announcement during his four-day, four-country trip to southeast Asia, the Prime Minister attempted to put anti-corruption efforts at the heart of the global debate around how to replace the UN's anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals.

On his second stop in Singapore, the Prime Minister pointed to concerns that some UK properties are bought using "anonymous shell companies" with "plundered or laundered cash" – and announced a consultation on increasing the transparency of UK property ownership.

He also said there would be an anti-corruption summit meeting in London next year.

Mr Cameron announced that, for the first time, the Land Registry will publish information on property owned by foreign companies in the autumn.

The Government will consult on further ways to make property ownership by such firms much more transparent.

Mr Cameron said officials were looking at whether there was a case for insisting that foreign companies publicly state their real owners if they wish to bid on a contract with the UK Government.

The Prime Minister added: "I want Britain to be the most open country in the world for investment. But I want to ensure that all this money is clean money.

"There is no place for dirty money in Britain. Indeed, there should no place for dirty money anywhere. "

Over 100,000 property titles are registered to overseas companies, with more than 36,000 properties in London owned by offshore firms. In total, some £122bn of property in England and Wales is owned by offshore companies.

According to Transparency International, 75% of properties where owners are under investigation for corruption made use of foreign companies to shroud the property's ownership in secrecy.

Mr Cameron linked corruption to poverty, lack of growth and the migrant crisis – and further claim it is fuelling religious extremism.

He said that defeating the "cancer of corruption in all its forms" would "strike the biggest blow for our generation in the struggle to ensure greater prosperity in every part of the world".

Campaign groups including Transparency International and Global Witness have welcomed the move.

Chido Dunn of Global Witness said: "Some of the Gaddafi family’s stolen loot ended up in London – a famous example but far from a one-off.

"Unless we know who is behind these companies and where their money has come from, the cash will keep pouring in."

Mr Dunn said the move should also apply to Britain's overseas territories, while Transparency International said other G20 nations also need to take these "significant steps".

The Prime Minister has chosen to give the speech in Singapore to highlight a successful anti-corruption drive by the island state's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died earlier this year.

"One of the most understated, but most important elements of a rules-based world order is a commitment to transparency and to tackling corruption," he said

"No one understood that better than Lee Kuan Yew. It was his commitment to tackling corruption that helped to give people confidence to invest in this incredible country."

Later this week, Mr Cameron will be visiting Malaysia, where his counterpart Najib Razak is defending himself from allegations of corruption from an official investigation into an investment fund.