(Secretary of State for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy): The
Government has published its response to its consultation on the
reform of Limited Partnership law.
A key theme of the UK’s Industrial Strategy is ensuring the UK
has a world-leading business environment, which holds the
confidence of investors, employees, consumers and the public. An
important element of this is the provision of a range of business
structures through which a variety of commercial objectives can
be achieved.
Limited partnerships play an important role in private fund
structures used by private equity, real estate and infrastructure
managers. In recent years however it has been reported that
limited partnerships in some circumstances have been used for
illicit purposes. The Government recognises that robust action is
required.
The reforms set out in the Government’s response include:
tightening of registration requirements for limited partnerships,
ensuring that those applying to register limited partnerships
demonstrate that they are registered and supervised by an
official anti-money laundering supervisor; requiring limited
partnerships to demonstrate a firmer connection to the UK;
increasing transparency requirements; and enabling the Registrar
to strike from the companies register limited partnerships which
are dissolved or which are no longer carrying on business.
The Government has worked closely with industry in developing
these reforms and considers that they strike the right balance
between preventing the abuse of limited partnerships while
ensuring they remain attractive to legitimate commercial
activity.
The reforms require primary legislation and the Government will
legislate when parliamentary time allows.
