Register of Overseas Entities

The Act

The Register of Overseas Entities came into force in the UK on 1^st August 2022 through the new Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. The Register has been established to increase transparency of the ownership of overseas entities that own UK Land and Property.

Overseas Entities are any legal entity that are registered outside of the UK. This will include all companies registered offshore – including those registered in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. They will need to be registered and verified if they own property of land in the UK.

This will also apply retrospectively to overseas entities who bought property or land on or after:

• 1 January 1999 in England and Wales
• 8 December 2014 in Scotland

Overseas entities that disposed of property or land after 28 February 2022 will also need to register and give details of that disposal.

Information Required

• The overseas entity must provide certain statutory information such as its name; country of incorporation, registered address; its legal form and registration number as well as contact details and email address.
• Additionally in accordance with the Act’s requirements, the overseas entity must identify its registrable beneficial owner/s and obtain the relevant information for the Companies House registration purposes.

The Registration Process

• The Overseas Entity’s Statement to Companies House
• Provision of collated information about the Entity and its Beneficial owners
• Verification of ALL Submitted Information by a UK based authorised professional
• Upon successful completion of the Registration process, Companies House will allocate an Overseas Entity ID which will be required by the entity when buying, leasing, transferring, or registering charges against the land or property.

Deadline and Government Fees

• 31^st January 2023.
• Fee of £100 to Companies House

Penalties

• Companies House official notifications confirms financial penalties for non-compliance of up to £2500 PER DAY.
• If an overseas entity fails to register by the stated deadline and/or cannot demonstrate a pending application for registration, the entity and every officer of the entity commits an offence that may render them liable to a fine, imprisonment or both.

Belgrave Accountants Services

Belgrave Accountants has successfully obtained authorisation from the UK authorities to provide all the required services, including Registration, verification and obtaining the Overseas Entity ID number for overseas entities that fall within the scope of the Act. These services include:

• Onboarding the overseas entity and liaising with the client to obtain the required information about the entity and its beneficial Owner/s
• Verifying the information on the overseas entity
• Verifying the information on the beneficial owners or managing officers (up to two included)
• Registering the overseas entity with Companies House and obtaining the Overseas Entity ID
• Liaising with Companies House to resolve any issues through to completion