Following the Act gaining Royal Assent on 14 March 2022, STEP’s UK Technical Committee (the Committee) raised a number of queries and concerns in relation to the new legislation and policy with BEIS. The Committee submitted comments on the Register of Overseas Entities (Delivery, Protection and Trust Services) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations), which is the legislative instrument that provides for the implementation of the Register. The comments were predominantly focused on reg.14 (‘Description of legal entity subject to its own disclosure requirements’) and reg.13 (‘Revocation of a determination under regulation 7(7)’). BEIS subsequently confirmed that STEP’s feedback was incorporated into the drafting of the statutory instrument.

The Register requires an overseas entity that already holds an interest in UK land that (in England) was acquired on or after 1 January 1999, to register at Companies House by 31 January 2023. The Register also requires certain information about the entity itself and its beneficial owners to be submitted, which must be independently verified. BEIS consulted STEP directly when preparing its verification guidance for the Register and the Committee provided technical comments on registrable beneficial owners, specific trust information and what documentation or information could be used to verify the information requested. BEIS reported shortly thereafter that the majority of these proposals were incorporated into the guidance. The Register went live on 1 August 2022 and the verification requirements are contained in the Regulations.

STEP has also produced its own guidance to assist members with the verification process for the Register.[2] STEP’s Policy team and the Committee will continue to monitor developments and consult with BEIS on this new process and will keep members apprised accordingly.