New AML overseas company rules go live as thousands miss deadline

Thousands of foreign companies with property in the UK have failed to declare their true owners.

It comes as new anti-money laundering (AML) rules on foreign ownership of UK land have gone live this month.

Foreign companies were required to declare their beneficial owners on the Register of Overseas Entities by Tuesday 31 January.

It is now estimated that 19,510 out of a total of 32,440 registered overseas organisations have declared their beneficial owners.

This suggests that 60% of registered overseas organisations have complied with the new rules but 40% haven't.

Since the start of February, overseas companies owning UK land who have not registered their beneficial owners with Companies House could now face penalties such as sale restrictions and tough fines.

Now that the deadline has passed, foreign companies who have not submitted information to Companies House could face severe sanctions, including financial penalties or prosecution, the Government has said.

The register was introduced as part of a package of economic measures announced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, targeting the illicit wealth of supporters of the Putin regime. 

The register also exposes criminals using overseas companies to launder money. 

Recently scammer Dr Ruja Ignatova, the “Cryptoqueen” on the FBI’s most wanted list, was publicly declared the beneficial owner of two intermediaries in Guernsey due to the new requirements.

Business minister Lord Callanan said: “There is nowhere for the criminals and corrupt elites to hide. We will be using all the tools at our disposal, including fines and restrictions, to crack down on foreign companies who have not complied.

“Unregistered companies are already automatically rejected from registering ownership of any new land by HM Land Registry. 

“Any UK buyers will be unable to transfer their title to the deed of any property purchased from non-compliant organisations, frustrating attempts to sell. Criminals purchase a safe investment like land and property through opaque corporate structures to clean their dirty money.