The UK’s Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (Act) is designed to increase transparency in relation to the ownership of interests in land situated in the United Kingdom. It does this by establishing a Register of Overseas Entities (ROE), maintained by the UK’s Companies House. The ROE went live on 1 August 2022 and the provisions of the Act require relevant overseas entities to register on the ROE before 31 January 2023.
An overseas entity that wishes to register on the ROE and obtain an ID will have to provide:
- specified information on itself;
- specified information on its registrable beneficial owners (RBOs);
- if one or more of the RBOs are trustees of one or more trusts, specified information in relation to those trusts;
- a statement confirming that the overseas entity has taken steps to identify all of its RBOs; and
- contact details of an individual in relation to the application.
In addition, the guidance issued by Companies House also makes it clear that, in each instance, the name of a regulated agent established in the UK will need to be provided in respect of each overseas entity applying to register on the ROE. The role of the regulated agent will be to carry out verification checks in relation to the prescribed information that the overseas entity is obliged to provide to Companies House. We are pleased to say that HIGHVERN is able to act as regulated agent for verification purposes, and can also assist with both initial and ongoing submissions to Companies House, for overseas entities which require registration.
For further information please do not hesitate to get in touch with Stefan Le Marquand.
