Six years after it was promised by David Cameron, the Register of Overseas Entities is now in force. It seems that the introduction of this instrument, long demanded by groups concerned about the anonymity of the ultimate ownership of so much property in Britain, has been hastened by Putin's war on Ukraine and the need to identify oligarchs and their hot money.
The i newspaper reports the anti-corruption group, Spotlight on Corruption, welcoming the register as "a crucial first step" towards clamping down on criminals.
This blog has followed Private Eye in calling for transparency in this area. There is a worry that there may be some loopholes in the legislation and regulations. One that leaps out is that property acquired before January 1999 is exempt. An even bigger worry is the threat by the current government to cut the number of civil servants. To be effective and command respect, the register must be kept fully up-to-date and penalties for non-compliance applied swiftly and enforced. For that, staffing in Newport has to be increased and at the right level of competence. The attitude of the Tory government to policing the existing Register of Companies does not inspire confidence.
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