World leaders pledge to tackle corruption at London summit – as it happened - the guardian

Closing summary

• David Cameron and John Kerry have warned that corruption and terrorism are dual threats to the world’s economy and security, at a summit aimed at tackling graft featuring heads of state and business leaders.

• Six countries, Britain, Afghanistan, Kenya, France, the Netherlands and Nigeria, have agreed to publish registers of who really owns companies in their territories, a so-called register of beneficial ownership. This is a key goal of anti-corruption groups. Six more, including Australia, will consider doing so.
• Eleven countries will join the now 29-strong group where lists of beneficial owners are drawn up and shared between governments, although not publicly. Those countries include Cayman Islands, Jersey, Bermuda, the Isle of Man and the UAE.
• The British prime minister used his opening speech to warn foreign companies that own around 100,000 properties in England and Wales that they will be required to disclose their ownership, one of a number of measures aimed at cleaning up London as an international centre for money laundering.
• The US is one of the countries which did not sign up to the pledge to share registers of beneficial ownership, and Cameron said he would keep pushing the Americans to be more accountable, as well as efforts to improve transparency on island tax havens like the British Virgin Islands, which also did not sign up to sharing information.
• Afghanistan’s president Ghani said corruption was fuelling his country’s political violence, and the fight against wrongdoing “should not be a fashion that is discarded with the next set of elections.” - Read More

• World leaders pledge to tackle corruption at London summit – as