The government plans to publish a public register of the ultimate owners of overseas companies that own or buy property in the UK in a bid to improve transparency and crack down on criminal gangs laundering dirty money through the property market
The draft laws for the new register, said to be a world-first, will be published this summer and it is set to go live by early 2021.
The government says more than £180m worth of property in the UK has been brought under criminal investigation as the suspected proceeds of corruption since 2004. Over 75% of properties currently under investigation use off-shore corporate secrecy, which is a tactic regularly seen by investigators pursuing high-level money laundering.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS’s) register will require overseas companies that own or buy property in the UK to provide details of their ultimate owners. This will help to reduce opportunities for criminals to use shell companies to buy properties in London and elsewhere to launder their illicit proceeds by making it easier for law enforcement agencies to track criminal funds and take action.
Business secretary Greg Clark said: ‘This world-first register will build on our reputation for corporate transparency as well as helping to create a hostile environment for economic crimes like money laundering.
‘The register will also provide the government with greater transparency on overseas companies seeking public contracts.’
BEIS consulted on plans for a beneficial ownership register at the end of 2016, and is expected to publish details of the outcomes shortly.
Report by Pat Sweet
