Rules and registers: reckoning with beneficial ownership

Laws around beneficial ownership – identifying the ultimate owners of corporate entities - are intended to be a tool to provide transparency and to combat corruption, terrorist financing and other human rights abuses. However, such legislation and related proposals have been criticised by some as disproportionate and sometimes contradictory to other rights. Meanwhile, legal professionals must increasingly navigate growing due diligence and reporting requirements and regulatory scrutiny in this area. In this podcast, compiled from a session at the IBA’s Annual Conference, our speakers consider the issues: Mark Stephens, Co-Chair, IBA Human Rights Institute; Babatunde Ajibade, Chair, IBA Section on Public and Professional Interest; and Greg McIntyre, former President, Law Council of Australia.