United Nations (UN) country representatives are being asked to endorse a new global standard for transparency in company ownership.
The standard would commit all countries to set up national, public registers of companies, disclosing the real individuals who own, control or benefit from them.
The request which has been submitted to the UN General Assembly by Transparency International (TI) has been endorsed by 700 signatories including renowned academics and research centres, companies and business executives, civil society groups and activists as well as several government agencies and public officials, the anti-corruption group says.
