Recommendation 2

HM Government Accepted

The Government agrees with this recommendation. A new Register of Overseas Entities was created by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, which received Royal Assent on 15 March 2022. This legislation was brought forward at pace to crack down on Russian dirty money in the UK following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Register of Overseas Entities requires overseas companies owning or buying property in the UK to give information about their true owners to Companies House. The Register will provide more information for law enforcement to help them to track down those using UK property as a money laundering vehicle. Since Royal Assent, BEIS and Companies House have been working to implement the register as quickly as possible, working closely with the UK’s three land registries. Essential secondary legislation needed to implement the Register has now been made in Parliament, and the Register went live on 1 August 2022. of the requirements (such as leases or charges) between 28 February 2022 and either their application for registration, or the end of the register’s transitional period, will be required to submit their beneficial ownership details as at the point of the disposition, as well as details of the relevant properties. This anti-avoidance measure addresses concerns that the transitional period provides a window of time for overseas entities to avoid the transparency requirements. 4 The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine: Government Response