{"id":17296,"date":"2022-02-01T13:07:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T13:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/?p=17296"},"modified":"2024-01-22T12:44:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T12:44:06","slug":"economic-crime-transparency-and-enforcement-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/ar\/economic-crime-transparency-and-enforcement-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"New Legislation to Tackle Global Economic Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government Has Brought Forward New Legislation (Economic Crime – Transparency and Enforcement- Bill) To Tackle Economic Crime And Improve Corporate Transparency<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill has been introduced in Parliament this week for its first reading.<\/a>\u00a0Following the commitments announced by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, last week (21 February 2022), the government has brought forward the new legislation to tackle economic crime following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Legislation to crack down on dirty money in the UK and corrupt elites was introduced in Parliament on 1 March 2022, and the new Policy paper is out already. The\u00a0new legislation<\/a>\u00a0will help the National Crime Agency prevent foreign owners from laundering their money in UK property and ensure more corrupt oligarchs can be handed an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As part of this, a\u00a0Register of Overseas Entities<\/a>\u00a0will be developed to crack down on foreign criminals using UK property to launder their money. The Register of Overseas Entities will be at the heart of a new global standard for transparency and significantly contribute to improved ownership transparency. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “There is no place for dirty money in the UK. We are going faster and harder to tear back the facade that those supporting Putin’s campaign of destruction have been hiding behind for so long. Those backing Putin have been put on notice: there will be nowhere to hide your ill-gotten gains.” <\/em>The new register will require anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies, setting a new global standard for transparency. Entities who do not declare their ‘beneficial owner’ will face restrictions overselling their property. Those who break the rules could face up to 5 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does this mean for Companies?<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

Under the reforms being brought in on UWOs, those who hold property in the UK in a trust will be brought within the scope. The definition of an asset’s ‘holder’ will also be expanded to ensure individuals can’t hide behind opaque shell companies and foundations. The reforms will also remove critical barriers to the use of UWOs by increasing the time available to law enforcement to review material provided in response to a UWO and reforming cost rules to protect law enforcement agencies from incurring substantial legal costs if they bring a reasonable case that is ultimately unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Treasury will also intensify sanctions enforcement by introducing a more wide-ranging ‘strict civil liability test’ for monetary penalties, rather than the current one, which requires firms to have knowledge or a ‘reasonable cause to suspect’ sanctions are being breached. This will make it easier for the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) to impose significant fines. A further change will mean OFSI will publicly name organizations that have breached financial sanctions but have not received a fine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These new measures are being introduced as one part of our response to tackling the scourge of economic crime in the UK and will safeguard our reputation as a clean and safe place for legitimate investment. In addition, the government is today (4 March 2022) publishing a detailed White Paper setting out its plans to upgrade Companies House, which will mean:<\/span><\/p>\r\n