Compare the Beneficial Ownership Identification System from the Perspective of Anti-Money Laundering Between China and the UK

Abstract

This study mainly focuses on the comparative study of the identification of beneficial owner system in anti-money laundering supervision of China and the UK. China scored poorly in The Financial Action Task Force's assessment of its anti-money laundering regime, which singled out major deficiencies in the system for identifying beneficial owners. Beneficial owner is an important concept in anti-money laundering regulation. The beneficial owner is, literally, the true beneficiary behind the company's various business practices. In today's very active economic activities, money laundering has always been the focus of law enforcement. At the same time, the complexity of corporate ownership structure and the diversity of money laundering forms have brought great obstacles to the supervision of money laundering. In such an environment, the identification and supervision of the actual beneficiaries behind the company can improve the efficiency of the supervision of money laundering. The UK received a high rating in The Financial Action Task Force's assessment and is considered to have set up an advanced anti-money laundering regulatory system internationally. Therefore, this study will find suggestions and directions for China's future institutional improvement by comparing the identification systems of beneficial owners in anti-money laundering supervision between China and the UK.