Compliance Real Estate and REITs: The Register of Overseas Entities (Disclosure and Dispositions) Regulations 2023
The regulations supplement the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. In that they specify
– the entities to whom otherwise protected information, such as the date of birth, place of residency, or trust information, of beneficial owners may be disclosed by the registrar of companies, e.g. to the Financial Conduct Authority, the National Crime Agency, or the HM Treasury (please see the schedule for a full list of entities eligible for such disclosure);
– the conditions that must be satisfied by entities seeking the disclosure, e.g. for the facilitation and support of their own functions;
– the persons or entities that may apply with the Secretary of State for consent to the transfer and registration of property or land that would otherwise be prohibited (please see the background below for more information);
– the content of any such application; and
– the subsequent application process and documents that the Secretary may require to substantiate the application.
Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022
The Register of Overseas Entities (Disclosure and Dispositions) Regulations 2023 were published on legislation.gov.uk, the official UK government web site for publicizing legal documents.
##### Background
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 introduced the requirement for all overseas entities which own or intend to own property in UK, including trusts, to provide detailed information about their beneficial owners to the registrar of companies. That information will be publicly available unless stipulated otherwise (e.g. in the case of trusts).
The Act also provides that firms / entities non-compliant with this registration requirement cannot dispose their property (sale/transfer). If a third party buyer now purchases such property, not knowing that the firm / entity selling it is actually prohibited from doing so, the third party buyer can – under the Land Registration Act 2002 – apply to the Secretary of State for consent to the transfer and registration of the land or property in its name.
