To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of plans under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill to require Russian oligarchs to declare their identity details upon (1) sale, or (2) transfer, of any UK assets.
Answered on
23 March 2022
In relation to property, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill provides for a new register which will require overseas companies owning or buying property in the UK to give information about their true owners to Companies House. This will provide more information for law enforcement to help them to track down those using UK property as a money laundering vehicle.
The Government took the measures relating to the Register of Overseas Entities through pre-legislative scrutiny. Since then, we have been able to improve the legislation to reflect the pre-legislative scrutiny committee’s recommendations and to align it with the broader reforms we have subsequently announced of Companies House; the legislation will be more effective as a result.
This has been essential to ensuring 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 legislation will level the playing field with property owned by UK companies, who already need to disclose their beneficial owners to Companies House.
This is a novel approach, setting a new global standard for transparency.