Join us at the Fourth International Financing for Development Conference in Seville

By Open Ownership

There are multiple opportunities to meet up with the Open Ownership (OO) team at the Fourth International Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Seville, Spain this month. Read the full conference agenda.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the event.

Where to meet us

• Saturday 28-Sunday 29 June: OO will participate in the Civil Society Forum, connecting with civil society from around the world committed to advancing transparency and integrity for sustainable development (begins 14:00 28 June).
• Wednesday, 2 July: OO and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative are co-hosting a side event on Bridging the “ODA” Gap – Mobilizing Revenues from the Extractives Sector (14:30-16:00, Room 13, FIBES (Feria Iberoamericana de Sevilla) Conference and Exhibition Centre).
• Thursday, 3 July: OO is supporting a side event by Transparency International entitled Safeguarding domestic resources and corruption-proofing the financing for development agenda: Sevilla and beyond (12:30-14:00, room to be confirmed, FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre).

If you are attending the FfD4 Conference and want to connect with Open Ownership, please reach out to our Advocacy Lead Agus De Luca at agus@openownership.org.

Why does the FfD4 process matter for beneficial ownership transparency?

Knowing who ultimately owns, controls, and benefits from companies, other legal vehicles, and certain high-value assets is crucial for effective public revenue mobilisation. The FfD4 process has so far highlighted the importance of beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) to foster international tax cooperation and fight illicit financial flows. It has focused on to what extent United Nations Member States should commit to regarding BOT, namely:

• at the domestic level, by strengthening efforts to implement high-quality and effective domestic beneficial ownership registers, with standardised and interoperable information of legal vehicles and a wide range of assets;
• at the international level, by improving the exchange of information contained in these registers to tackle corruption and tax abuse.

Over the past year, OO has engaged with the FfD4 process to support a process that recognises BOT as a key reform for sustainable development:

• here, we outlined why committing to ending company secrecy is vital in the FfD4 Outcome Document;
• this emerging thinking piece outlines the key opportunities to advance the potential of BOT through FfD4 and beyond;
• this document outlines OO’s inputs to the FfD4 Elements Paper.

Read this article on the Open Ownership website here.