Stephen Abbott Pugh
@stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
410 followers 550 following 440 posts
Beneficial ownership transparency, data and standardisation expert. Offering technical guidance and consultancy support https://www.beneficialownership.co.uk/ Talk to me about the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard https://standard.openownership.org/
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Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
globalenergymon.bsky.social
Nominee companies act as middlemen, masking the real investors behind Australia’s biggest polluters.

With no regulation of nominee shareholding, fossil fuel ownership remains hidden — and accountability out of reach.

📊 Full analysis: globalenergymonitor.org/report/the-f...
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Exciting to see another use of @openownership.bsky.social's Beneficial Ownership Data Standard visualisation library in the wild www.openownership.org/en/publicati...

HT @fostermoore.bsky.social

#beneficialownership #openstandards
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Exciting to see another use of @openownership.bsky.social's Beneficial Ownership Data Standard visualisation library in the wild www.openownership.org/en/publicati...

HT @fostermoore.bsky.social

#beneficialownership #openstandards
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
"Corporate filings, investment records + supply chain data suggest there may be one common partner lurking behind the anonymity: the Chinese tech giant Huawei, which the US has targeted with criminal indictments, equipment bans + sweeping export restrictions for years" www.kharon.com/brief/huawei...
Huawei Appears to Lurk Behind Chinese Firms’ Chip IPOs, as a Top Customer No One Names
Chinese tech giant Huawei activated a backup plan for its supply chain when U.S. restrictions hit. Now, as the AI race intensifies, a series of semiconductor firms appear to show how far that plan has...
www.kharon.com
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Good to be watching a live demo of Bermuda's new beneficial ownership register by the Registrar of Companies team 👀 www.gov.bm/articles/imp...
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
michaelsavage.bsky.social
NEW: Net migration almost halved last year. But 84% of regular GB News viewers believe it went up.

More importantly, new research revealing this also suggests the public opposes politicians presenting shows - contradicting Ofcom.

Lisa Nandy now taking note:

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/o...
GB News viewers more likely to wrongly believe net migration to UK rising, study finds
Research also finds majority of people are against letting politicians front current affairs programmes
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
petergeoghegan.bsky.social
How a Democracy for Sale story about US Christian Right funding prompted a @nytimes.com investigation into the links between Nigel Farage, Reform UK and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

So good to speak to the peerless Jane Bradley:

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/nigel-fara...
Nigel Farage and the foreign influence threat
How US anti-abortionists are supporting Reform, and why we need to talk about Russian influence, with the New York Times’ Jane Bradley.
democracyforsale.substack.com
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Making beneficial ownership data public, making sure it is used and realising its value: what we can learn from the example of the UK which has made its beneficial ownership data publicly and openly available for nearly the last decade?

medium.com/@stephenabbo...

#beneficialownership #opendata
Making beneficial ownership data public, making sure it is used and realising its value
Knowing who really owns or controls entities such as companies or trusts is a crucial part of anti-money laundering investigations…
medium.com
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will be given an additional $207 million over the next two years to improve its company register and set up the beneficial ownership register.

However policy development work + consultation process about the register won't start till "early 2027"
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Australia is moving forwards with plans to create a public beneficial ownership register to show who really owns or controls companies as well as collecting information on trusts ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/an...

#beneficialownership
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Yes. This will mean officially revoking access for the general public in favour of more limited access to authorities. But it also offers access to people seen to have 'legitimate interest' such as journalists, civil society organisations and others.

Full list: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Italy has begun the process of officially changing its beneficial ownership regime to limit access to competent authorities, obliged entities and those people or entities with legitimate interest www.governo.it/it/articolo/...
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
drdanielskerritt.bsky.social
🚨Excited to join IMF & World Bank Annual Meetings 2025!

The Future of Beneficial Ownership Reforms: Ensuring Impact and Innovation across High-Risk Sectors
How to drive change in sectors like real estate, crypto, and fisheries?

🗓️Wednesday, 15 Oct, 1400 EDT
📍Online 👉 lnkd.in/gQvwdRHj
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
jbarrow.bsky.social
Paper thread of some work I’m *incredibly* proud of, my first single author paper!

Converting a PDF to a fillable form is a hard problem, and a lot of solutions don’t work very well! In CommonForms, I show that you can train models that outperform Adobe Acrobat for <$500! 🧵
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
lauramdubois.ft.com
For this story, we used AI to read more than 13,000 documents to identify which MEPs declared a conflict of interest. While dozens have side jobs overlapping with their parliamentary duties, only eight declared a conflict of interest.

With @jonathanvincent.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/0466...
Scores of MEPs hold side jobs in sectors where they steer EU laws
FT analysis identifies paid work that has not been declared as a potential conflict of interest
www.ft.com
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
Bearer shares are to be prohibited and undisclosed nominee arrangements banned. Access is potentially extended to financial institutions/DNFBPs, the media and the public
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
The new rules propose the creation of a central digital beneficial ownership register, lowering the threshold to 20% and extending coverage to partnerships and one‑person corporations
stephenabbottpugh.bsky.social
The Securities and Exchange Commission in the Philippines is carrying out a public consultation on proposed updates to tighten its beneficial ownership disclosure and transparency rules.

Submissions due by 9 November 2025

Details: www.sec.gov.ph/notices/requ...
www.sec.gov.ph
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
financialtimes.com
Parliamentary records show that 59 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) in the 720-strong assembly are sitting on committees or working on policy areas that are related to their paid side activities, FT analysis suggests. on.ft.com/47n31Dm
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
bradleyjane.bsky.social
NEW: How a U.S. anti-abortion group has quietly positioned itself as a powerbroker between the Trump administration and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Latest investigation w Elizabeth Dias. 
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
Reposted by Stephen Abbott Pugh
propublica.org
NEW: In newly unsealed testimony, a SpaceX insider revealed that Elon Musk’s company had directly received money from Chinese investors, raising questions about foreign ownership interests in one of the United States’ most important military contractors.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies
The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America’s most importan...
www.propublica.org