The Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT) Working Group seeks to foster dialogue and innovation and enhance collaboration among international organizations, think tanks, academic institutions, and development partners to advance the beneficial ownership reform agenda. A primary focus of the thematic working group is to advance evidence-based research on the effectiveness and impacts of beneficial ownership reforms and registers to inform policy design and dialogue.
Beneficial ownership reforms advance transparency of the natural persons who own or control companies by requiring their identification and disclosure of these beneficial owners to a public authority or body. Beneficial ownership transparency is crucial for many developmental and public policy objectives for example to combat corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, enhance accountability and trust in governance, increase transparency in public procurement, and promote a more transparent and competitive business environment.
The BOT Working Group, hosted by the Anticorruption for Development Global Program in the World Bank, with the support of the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, aims to create a collaborative platform for experts and stakeholders to exchange knowledge, discuss new approaches and ideas, advance evidence based research to inform policy design, and discuss other innovations.
The Working Group is supported within the World Bank by a multidisciplinary Task Force with experts in Governance and Institutions, Financial Integrity and Anti-money Laundering, and Tax. Participants of the BOT working group include representatives of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Open Ownership, FACT Coalition, Tax Justice Network, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, NORAD, United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
Research symposium & Call for Submissions on Evidence and Impact of Beneficial Ownership Transparency
The BOT Working Group, Open Ownership and the Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex are organizing a Research Symposium that aims to support evidence-based policymaking, implementation, and advocacy of beneficial ownership transparency reforms. The Symposium will take place on February 26 and 27, 2026 in Brighton (United Kingdom). It is designed as a generative dialogue and connection space among researchers and academic experts in the field, as well as hosting a diversity of individuals from academia, multilateral agencies, and civil society. Submissions for the symposium must be made by November 16, 2025.
