The government of the United Kingdom has announced that foreign corporations with property there will now be required to list their real owners in an official register.
The "Register of Overseas Entities," which goes into force on Monday, is a component of a larger economic crime statute that was passed this year in an effort to halt the flow of illegal Russian money into London following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.According to a statement from the business ministry, it will work to ensure that criminals cannot conceal their activities behind opaque networks of shell companies and would support government attempts to track down Russian oligarchs who are exploiting real estate in the UK to conceal illicit funds.
Martin Callanan, a junior business minister, said, "We need to know who owns what to ensure we are free of crooked elites with dubious riches.
"We are revealing the truth and pursuing those criminals who are trying to conceal their illegally acquired fortune.
Foreign companies with land in the UK that is included in the register have six months to abide by the rules by revealing their beneficial owners to Companies.The registry will be applicable to real estate purchased in Scotland as of December 2014 and in England and Wales as of January 1999.
If the new regulations are broken, penalties could include five years in prison or fines of up to 2,500 British pounds ($3,043) every day.
An official from Transparency International referred to the register as a key component of the economic crime law and described it as a "seismic change" that would push foreign property ownership into the open.
The rule was passed in March in response to requests for the government to do more to prevent those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin from using London real estate, sometimes known as "Londongrad," to launder illicit funds.
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