UK Register of Overseas Entities, Deadline Approaching!

Non-UK entities that hold UK property must make a submission to a new Register of Overseas Entities by 31 January 2023.  Entities that do not comply face significant sanctions, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK, and the entity’s managing officers can face criminal sanctions, including fines of up to £2,500 per day or a prison sentence of up to 5 years.

Background

Under the new Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, a new Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) is being created in the United Kingdom and will be held by Companies House. This register forms part of the UK government’s strategy to combat economic crime, while making sure that legitimate businesses continue to see the UK as a great place to invest.

The new register will require overseas entities that own UK land or property to declare their beneficial owners or managing officers. There will be severe sanctions for those who do not comply, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK, and the entity’s managing officers can face criminal sanctions, including fines of up to £2,500 per day or a prison sentence of up to 5 years. Non-UK entities that hold UK property must submit the required information to the ROE by 31 January 2023.

More than 31,000 companies worldwide will need to complete a filing on the new register, and we expect demand for assistance with these filings to rise sharply in late December and January. Entities that leave their filing until January may find that they are not able to meet the deadline due to the high number of companies attempting to make a filing.  Our advice to any non-UK entity that needs to make a filing on the ROE is to start the process as soon as possible.

How We Can Help

As part of the registration process, verification checks must be carried out by a UK-based relevant person supervised under the Money Laundering Regulations. Trident Trust’s UK corporate services business is supervised by HMRC and is able to provide the following services:

• Ensure that all required information for registration is received and verified
• Verify the identities of the parties to be registered as required by the Act
• Complete the registration process
• Complete the ongoing annual filing updates as required

Read our service overview and FAQ to learn more.

What To Do Next

Our specialist UK team is on hand to assist clients make their ROE filing.

• If you are a client of Trident Trust already, please deal with your usual local representative who will be able to guide you through this process.
• If you are not a client of Trident Trust, then please email our dedicated ROE team at roe@tridenttrust.com 
• At this stage we will send you a list of the information required to determine the complexity of your registration requirements. Once you provide this information, we will provide you with a fee quote for our work.