It seeks specific views on options to widen access to trust information held on the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) to improve transparency about who owns lands and whether it is held in opaque offshore structures.

Where a trust is involved in land ownership, the government believes that there is a public interest in bringing trust transparency in line with companies.

Historically trusts have been ‘historically private affairs’ and the premise of a trust dates back at least to the Crusades, where Knights would leave their property in the hands of a trustee to manage it in their absence.

Transactions made using offshore corporate structures or offshore trusts in the UK property sector have been identified as posing a higher risk of money laundering.