Dirty money being hidden on our shores will be brought into the harsh light of day
THE world fundamentally changed on 24th February when Russia invaded Ukraine, a sovereign and democratic European country.
This barbaric action demanded that the UK government take bold and decisive action, identifying all avenues by which we could choke off those supporting Putin’s campaign of destruction.
On top of a comprehensive package of economic sanctions, we launched a further crackdown on economic crime to root out Kremlin-linked money being laundered across London.
For too long, Putin’s kleptocracy has targeted our great capital city as a haven to store dirty money – hiding behind systems of shell companies, registered overseas in secrecy jurisdictions.
This simply cannot go on, and it’s why, only a matter of days after Russia’s invasion, we legislated to set up a register of overseas entities – to lift the curtain on those criminals who have for too long been using UK property to hide their ill-gotten gains.
We said we would work at breakneck speed to deliver this, and today, less than six months later, I am delighted to announce that this register is up and running.
From today, any foreign company wishing 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.
This bold reform is about transparency and discouraging illegally obtained funds from finding their way into the UK property market and from there continuing to circulate around our economy and profit the regime in Russia. No longer will criminals be able to hide behind secretive chains of shell companies.
Those overseas entities that already own land in the UK will have a six-month transitional period, starting today, to register their beneficial owners. Those that fail to do so will face tough restrictions on dealing with their land.
There’s also nowhere to hide for corrupt elites who tried to flee the country when we first set out these reforms earlier this year. Any foreign business that has disposed of property since 28 February 2022 – when the legislation to create the register was announced – will be required to provide a statement to Companies House.
This means those who have historically used our city as a means to hide their wealth will also face repercussions.
It’s not just modern-day criminals that this new register will help flush out – we’re applying it retrospectively to all property bought by foreign companies across England and Wales since January 1999, and in Scotland since December 2014.
The government will come down hard on those that don’t play ball. Those managing foreign businesses that don’t comply with these new obligations could face severe criminal sanctions – from fines of up to £2,500 a day to a prison sentence of up to five years.