LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The government is speeding up plans to combat the movement of “dirty money” and limit the laundering of ill-gotten gains in the UK housing market.
The move comes just days after the Russian President ordered the invasion of Ukraine, as Sky News political correspondent Tamara Cohen first revealed on Saturday.
Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of a package of sanctions aimed at Russia the previous week, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement Bill will be tabled in parliament on Tuesday.
It would create a register of foreign corporations that will require offshore property owners in the UK to declare their true identities in order to ascertain that criminals can’t hide behind shell companies.
Those who do not cooperate will be limited in their ability to sell the property, and those who disobey the restrictions might face up to five years in prison.
The law will apply retroactively to property purchased by foreign owners in Wales and England up to 20 years ago, and in Scotland since December 2014.
Despite the fact that the register would serve as a “warning” to offshore property owners, Sky News earlier claimed that the measures could take up to a year to implement.
On Saturday, a No 10 source said: “Understanding who should be sanctioned requires transparency. Our goal is to complete this by early next week, but there is still a lot of work to be done “.
Unaccounted wealth orders (UWOs) will be increased as well, giving law enforcement additional time to analyse data submitted in response to the order and protecting them from suffering significant legal expenses if they establish a plausible case that is unsuccessful.
In addition, the Treasury would implement a “strict civil liability test” for assessing fines for violations of international sanctions, rather than requiring corporations to prove knowledge or “reasonable cause to suspect” the violation.
“Dirty money has no place in the UK,” Mr Johnson added. We are working harder and faster to tear off the facade that people who support Putin’s wrecking campaign of destruction have been hiding behind.
“Those backing Putin have been put on notice: there will be nowhere to hide your ill-gotten gains,” PM added.
In advance of a second Economic Crime Bill, the government is also releasing a thorough white paper outlining reforms to Companies House.
Anyone forming, running, owning, or controlling a business in the United Kingdom would be required to verify their identification with Companies House, and officials will have the authority to challenge false information and alert security agencies.
