A new register aimed at preventing criminals from using UK property to launder money – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – has received a glowing endorsement from a global business registry network, according to Companies House.
The Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) recognised Companies House with an Innovation Award (Excellence) for its implementation of the Register of Overseas Entities. Overseas entities that want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK are required to register with Companies House and declare who their beneficial owners or managing officers are.
The register was delivered in just 109 working days and now has more than 27,000 registered overseas entities, with the register itself searched 405,178 times. Information on beneficial owners has been accessed 89,574 times.
The CRF is a leading international association of business registries from more than 50 nations across the world. Members meet regularly to share ideas, benchmark performance and access specialist knowledge and experience.
A panel of CRF judges said the introduction of the register was “a true display of agile innovation” and praised it as the “most outstanding” project among entries for the award. The award will be presented to Companies House officials at a ceremony at the CRF’s conference in October.
Chair of the CRF 2023 Innovation Award judging panel, Ms Chin Li Fen, said:
“On behalf of the Corporate Registers Forum, my heartiest congratulations to Companies House for being awarded the CRF Innovation (Excellence) for the implementation of the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE). The Innovation (Excellence) Award is given to the most outstanding innovation project among the entries.
Implemented just about 4 months after the enabling legislations were introduced, the ROE was a true display of agile innovation from Companies House. Not only did ROE achieve the policy objectives of having a robust process to combat cross-border economic crimes, the fully digital solution was also designed from customer perspective to facilitate compliance with the laws and boost transparency.”
Head of the Register of Overseas Entities at Companies House, Rachael Watts, said:
“We are delighted that all the hard work put in to make the register’s launch possible has been given such wonderful recognition.
Getting the register operational in such a short space of time was not only challenging but it also required a huge amount of collaboration and engagement with stakeholders across government and beyond.
We’re continuing to learn and improve the register, so it will continue to prove an effective tool in the fight against economic crime.”
