Beneficial owners are defined as those who are the natural persons who ultimately own/control a customer and/or the natural persons on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted. It also includes those persons who exercise ultimate control over a legal person or arrangement. The availability of this information is a key requirement of international tax transparency and the fight against financial crime. Beneficial ownership is now the leading issue in the global anti-corruption and tax justice movement. 

This policy paper is the fourth contribution to the challenge paper on the Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion, which will be launched in July 2019 at the UN High-level Political Forum.

Inclusive societies require progressive taxation and public spending policies to unlock the untapped potential of communities on the sidelines of economic progress. There is a common misconception that technical barriers are the key challenges to achieving this, however, this paper argues that the barriers to progressive taxation and public spending are largely political in nature. 

This policy paper is the third contribution to the challenge paper on the Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion, which will be launched in July 2019 at the UN High-level Political Forum.