Legal News | 5.06.23
Register of Overseas Entities – 5,000 firms not registered
The Register of Overseas Entities – has your firm registered?
The Register of Overseas Entities regime requires overseas entities that own property in the UK to register their beneficial owners or managing officers with Companies House. Entities that fail to do so will be prevented from buying, selling, transferring or leasing land, and from creating charges against land. The Register came into effect on 1 August 2022 and entities that already owned property in the UK were given until 31 January 2023 to register.
However, recent analysis by BBC News has revealed that around 5,000 firms with property in England and Wales have failed to register their details. While Companies House has not imposed any penalties on these firms to date, the legislation provides for fines of up to £2,500 per day.
If you have delayed registering due to concerns about submitting your personal information to the Register, new regulations came into effect on 1 June 2023 making it easier to apply for your personal details to be withheld from public view.
At the moment, personal information can only be withheld if a beneficial owner is at serious risk of violence or intimidation as a result of either the overseas entity’s activities or as a result of the association between the entity and the beneficial owner being public knowledge. The new regulations remove the requirement for the risk to arise from the entity’s activities or an association between it and the beneficial owner.
The new regulations also set out the characteristics of a foreign limited partner under the legislation and introduce a new ability to apply for inaccurate information and information submitted without the authority of an entity to be removed.
The Corporate and Commercial Team at Wansbroughs will continue to monitor changes to the registration regime and will keep our clients updated.
For further information, or for advice in relation to a corporate or commercial matter, please contact: 01380 733300 | commercial@wansbroughs.com
