Foreign companies owning or buying UK land or properties will have to reveal their true owners as the government launched a new register on Monday in a bid to ensure “criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies.”
From Aug. 1, any foreign entity seeking to buy UK land or property will have to identify its beneficial owner and present verified information to Companies House—the government body in charge of company registration—before submitting an application to the UK’s land registries.
Existing property holding entities will have six months to register their beneficial owners or managing officers or face fines up to £2,500 ($3,060) per day or a prison sentence of up to 5 years….