To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government’s commitment to have an operational register in place in 2021, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
8 September 2020
The Government remains determined to ensure there is no safe space for illicit finance or corruption in our society. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) completed a landmark review of the UK’s regime for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing in December 2018, concluding that we have some of the strongest controls in the world.
The register will be the first of its kind in the world. It is essential that the new requirements are workable, proportionate and that the register strikes the right balance between improving transparency and minimising burdens on legitimate commercial activity.
The Government is amending the draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill in line with the recommendations of the 2019 Joint Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Committee. This will make the legislation as effective as possible in tackling the use of UK property for the purpose of money laundering.
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement I made updating the House of Commons on its progress in May 2020, Official Report, 21 July 2020, Column HCWS413.