Government plans urgent Crackdown on use of Scottish limited partnerships

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has signalled plans to curb abuse of Scottish limited partnerships (SLPs), which are being used to launder dirty money through the UK, after research suggested one scheme had been used to channel $80bn (£58bn) out of Russia.

The government says SLPs and limited partnerships (LPs) are used by thousands of legitimate British businesses, particularly the private equity and pensions industry, to invest more than £30bn a year in the UK. Both structures are business entities created by two or more partners where at least one partner is liable for what they invest.