A new register aimed at preventing criminals from using UK
property to launder money – the first of its kind anywhere in the
world – has received a glowing endorsement from a global business
registry network.
The Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) recognised Companies House
with an Innovation Award (Excellence) for its implementation of
the Register of Overseas Entities. Overseas entities that want to
buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK are required to
register with Companies House and declare who their beneficial
owners or managing officers are.
The register was delivered in just 109 working days and now has
more than 27,000 registered overseas entities, with the register
itself searched 405,178* times. Information on beneficial owners
has been accessed 89,574* times.
The CRF is a leading international association of business
registries from more than 50 nations across the world. Members
meet regularly to share ideas, benchmark performance and access
specialist knowledge and experience.
A panel of CRF judges said the introduction of the register was
“a true display of agile innovation” and praised it as the “most
outstanding” project among entries for the award. The award will
be presented to Companies House officials at a ceremony at the
CRF’s conference in October.
Chair of the CRF 2023 Innovation Award judging panel, Ms Chin Li
Fen, said:
On behalf of the Corporate Registers Forum, my heartiest
congratulations to Companies House for being awarded the CRF
Innovation (Excellence) for the implementation of the Register of
Overseas Entities (ROE). The Innovation (Excellence) Award is
given to the most outstanding innovation project among the
entries.
Implemented just about 4 months after the enabling legislations
were introduced, the ROE was a true display of agile innovation
from Companies House. Not only did ROE achieve the policy
objectives of having a robust process to combat cross-border
economic crimes, the fully digital solution was also designed
from customer perspective to facilitate compliance with the laws
and boost transparency.
Head of the Register of Overseas Entities at Companies House,
Rachael Watts, said:
We are delighted that all the hard work put in to make the
register’s launch possible has been given such wonderful
recognition.
Getting the register operational in such a short space of time
was not only challenging but it also required a huge amount of
collaboration and engagement with stakeholders across government
and beyond.
We’re continuing to learn and improve the register, so it will
continue to prove an effective tool in the fight against economic
crime.
Notes:
-
The Register of Overseas Entities was announced as part of
the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill in
February 2022, as part of the UK’s immediate response to
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
-
The Register of Overseas Entities came into force on 1 August
2022 and requires overseas entities who want to buy, sell or
transfer property or land in the UK, to register with
Companies House and declare who their beneficial owners or
managing officers are.
-
Entities who fail to register will face criminal and civil
sanctions and will be unable to deal freely with their land
due to the restrictions placed over it. Companies House is
now assessing cases for enforcement action working in
partnership with law enforcement bodies.
-
The CRF Innovation Awards celebrate the spirit of innovation
and honours CRF jurisdictions which have successfully put in
place world-class initiatives, as well as those which have
creatively implemented customised solutions, to make a real
difference to their stakeholders.
-
Companies House holds the Presidency of the CRF, and also
provide the Secretariat. The President and Secretary did not
participate in the judging of the entry from Companies House.
*Information accurate as of April 30. Google Analytics only
provides data for users who have consented to cookies that
measure website use. This means the number of searches will be
higher than the ones given in this article.
