Hong Kong Defends Plan To Reduce Corporate Database Transparency
By Jerome TAYLOR
04/09/21 AT 4:52 AM
A Hong Kong official on Friday defended plans to curb public access to company searches, a move transparency, media and some business advocates have warned will hamper the exposure of shady corporate dealings.
The semi-autonomous financial hub currently maintains a paywalled Companies Registry listing the registered owners of businesses.
The database has been used by journalists, academics and activist shareholders to unravel global money trails, including wealth amassed by the families of senior Chinese leaders.
The new proposal will mask the home addresses and identification card numbers of owners and directors, limiting the information to correspondence addresses.