The Companies We Keep

The report evaluates the UK's open register of beneficial owners, finding that while 87% of companies comply, significant loopholes allow thousands to hide real ownership through 'no PSC' statements, ineligible foreign corporate entities, and circular ownership structures. It argues that Companies House lacks the resources and mandate to verify data or sanction non-compliance, and recommends the adoption of unique identifiers and automated red-flagging systems to detect financial crime.

• The majority of UK companies comply with beneficial ownership reporting, with 87%—approximately 3.6 million companies—filing at least one beneficial owner as of March 1, 2018.
• Significant loopholes exist for suppressing ownership information, including over 335,000 companies declaring they have no beneficial owner and over 10,000 companies listing ineligible foreign companies as beneficial owners.
• The analysis identified 328 companies involved in circular ownership structures, where companies appear to control themselves, which is prohibited under UK corporate law.
• There is evidence of 'nominee' beneficial owners, with over 9,000 companies controlled by individuals who each control more than 100 companies; one individual, Michael Gleissner, controls over 1,000 companies.
• Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) show high rates of non-compliance, with 35% stating they have not completed the steps to find their PSCs, compared to less than 1% for the general register.
• Companies House lacks a systematic verification process for self-reported data and has limited resources for policing, with only 20 staff dedicated to PSC compliance for 4 million companies as of January 2018.
• The report identifies a lack of effective sanctions, noting that as of the publication date, no fines had been issued for PSC filings, despite the potential for criminal offences.
• The use of open data has significantly increased access to company information, with searches growing from 6 million requests per year in 2014-2015 to over 2 billion searches annually after paywalls were removed.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). The Companies We Keep. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/the-companies-we-keep/

Chicago

Global Witness. The Companies We Keep. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/the-companies-we-keep/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=The Companies We Keep |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/the-companies-we-keep/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndcompanies, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{The Companies We Keep}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/the-companies-we-keep/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }