A new government register to flush out corrupt oligarchs and criminals laundering money through UK property goes live today and will carry penalties of up to five years in prison for those who flout its rules.
The Register of Overseas Entities will require anonymous foreign companies owning or seeking to buy UK land to reveal their true owners in a bid to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive shell companies.
Around £100bn is channelled through the UK as a result of money laundering, estimates the National Crime Agency. This measure was first announced by former Prime Minister David Cameron six years ago.
The reforms support UK efforts to root out Russian oligarchs using UK land to hide illicit wealth, says the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
The department adds that from today, any foreign company that plans to buy UK property will have to identify its beneficial owner and present verified information to Companies House before any application to the UK’s land registries can be made.
Overseas entities that already own land in the UK that falls within the scope of the register will have a six-month transitional period, starting today, to register their beneficial owners or managing officers.
The register applies retrospectively to property bought since January 1999 in England and Wales, and since December 2014 in Scotland. Foreign firms that do not comply with the new obligations could face fines of up to £2,500 per day or a prison sentence of up to five years.
Business Minister Lord Callanan says: “We have been clear that the UK is a place for legitimate business only, and to ensure we are free of corrupt elites with suspicious wealth, we need to know who owns what.
“By getting this first of its kind register up and running at breakneck speed, we are lifting the curtain and cracking down on those criminals attempting to hide their illicitly obtained wealth.”
The department adds that any overseas entity that has sold property since 28 February 2022 – when the legislation to create the register was first announced – will be required to provide a statement to Companies House.
Companies House chief executive Louise Smyth says: “The launch of this new register is a significant milestone in the history of Companies House and marks a turning point in our transformation as we look to play a much greater role in tackling economic crime.”
Transparency International advocacy director Rachel Davies Teka adds: “Transparency over the property sector is vital to help tackle criminals and the corrupt using Britain as a haven for their dirty money.
“This register should help start to lift the veil of secrecy over offshore companies that own real estate in the UK – a loophole that has been exploited by oligarchs and kleptocrats for too long.”
Armalytix executive chairman Mike Ward says: “As the register comes into effect, overseas entities will need to provide evidence to an agent of beneficial ownership and legitimacy, but verification for the register’s purposes is a very different task to the risk-based approach to client due diligence under money laundering regulations.
“With recent advice from the Law Society for counselling conveyancers to avoid being agents, it is probably not for property lawyers to provide this.
Further, the changes will affect all conveyancers, even if they aren’t acting directly for an overseas entity. Across the house buying and selling chain, if there is an overseas entity at any stage that must register, all conveyancers must make sure that they are following register rules.
“Secondly, conveyancers will need to check that their future contracts are watertight, making sure that events where an overseas entity has failed or been unable to register are dealt with.
Conveyancers need to make sure that these checks are immediately implemented, or risk facing the consequences down the line.
There will be loopholes that pop up as some parties try and find ways around disclosing beneficiaries, but these over time can be closed, and the implementation is definitely a bonus. In my mind, the biggest single point of failure will be unscrupulous third-party register agents incorrectly validating overseas entity applications.”
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