Regional Workshop on Advancing Beneficial Ownership Transparency

DAY 1: Monday, 21 February 2022
Regional Workshop on Advancing Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Asia and Pacific Region
14:00 – 14:10	Welcome Remarks Jose Luis Syquia, Principal Public Management Specialist, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB
14:10 – 14:20	Opening Remarks Mark Robinson, Executive Director, EITI
14:20-14:40	Keynote Speech: Importance of BO Transparency in Fighting Financial Crime BO information can help prevent illicit financial flows and reduce the risks of money laundering and corruption. The keynote will introduce the concept of BO, its significance in fighting financial crime, the international legal framework on BO transparency, and the significance of publicly accessible BO registers. Keynote Speaker: John Versantvoort, Head, Office of Anticorruption and Integrity, ADB
14:40-15:40	Plenary: Legal and Regulatory Framework for Effective BO Disclosures The session will look at different legal and regulatory issues confronting countries in ensuring effective BO disclosures and will discuss international examples. Some of the concepts that will be considered during this session include: Incorporating explicit obligations on BO disclosure; Significance of single, robust, and unified definition of beneficial owner – challenges in determining threshold and harmonising different pieces of legislation; Scope of legal entities to be covered within the BO disclosure regime and Appropriate designated authority/agency for collecting, maintaining, and verifying BO data. Moderator: Ramandeep Chhina, International Consultant on Beneficial Ownership, ADB Presentation 1: Francesco Checchi, Regional Anti-corruption Adviser, UNODC Presentation 2: Andrew Irvine, Legal and Company Engagement Director, EITI Secretariat Presentation 3: Kristine Gabuzyan, Head, Department of Anti-Corruption Policy Development and Monitoring, Ministry of Justice (Armenia) Q&A Session
15:40-15:50	Refreshment Break
15:50-16:50	Parallel Thematic Sessions These parallel thematic sessions will continue the discussion from the plenary on legal and regulatory framework for effective BO disclosures, focusing on PEP disclosure and public disclosure of BO Information.
	Session 1: Reporting of PEPs in the BO Registers Some of the concepts that will be discussed in this session include: Importance of identifying reporting obligations for PEPs; Scope of definition of PEPs and disclosure requirements; Considerations for reporting obligations for PEPs; Challenges in identifying PEPs as beneficial owners; and EITI BO disclosure requirement for PEPs vs. other sectors and standards – country approaches and examples. Moderator: Oliana Valigura, Eurasia Director, EITI Presentation 1: Matthieu Salomon, Senior Governance Officer, Natural Resource Governance Institute Presentation 2: Erdenechimeg Dashdorj, Natural Resource Governance Manager, Open Society Forum, Mongolia Q&A Session	Session 2: Public Disclosure of BO Information Some of the concepts that will be discussed in this session include: Benefits of the public disclosure of BO data; Balancing public disclosure of BO data with data protection and privacy laws; The extent to which BO information should be made available to public and any exemptions granted – international good practice; and Practice of charging a fee for data access. Moderator: Ramandeep Chhina, International Consultant on Beneficial Ownership, ADB Presentation 1: Nicholas Vail, Senior Policy Advisor: Corporate Transparency and Register Reform at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Lee Robins, Head of Enforcement, Companies House Presentation 2: Oliver O. Leonardo, Officer-in-Charge, Enforcement and Investor Protection Department, Securities and Exchange Commission Q&A Session
16:50-17:00	Wrap-Up Session - Day 1