Register of Overseas Entities (Protection and Trusts) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Company Law) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
Read Full debate
Lord Leong
That the Grand Committee do consider the Register of Overseas Entities (Protection and Trusts) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Company Law) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
Relevant document: 5th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (special attention drawn to the instrument)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade (Lord Leong) (Lab)
My Lords, these regulations will make targeted and technical amendments to strengthen the operation and transparency of the register of overseas entities, which I will refer to as the ROE. They will also correct a technical issue relating to limited liability partnerships, which I will refer to as LLPs.
The Government remain committed to improving the transparency of beneficial ownership as part of our efforts to tackle economic crime while ensuring that there are appropriate safeguards for sensitive personal information. Noble Lords will be aware that the ROE, established by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, is a key part of that framework. It is a public register requiring overseas entities that own or purchase land in the United Kingdom to disclose information about their beneficial owners or managing officers to Companies House.
The register plays an important role in exposing ownership structures and supporting efforts to combat illicit activity. Information on the ROE has been used by law enforcement agencies, journalists and others investigating corruption, money laundering and assets held by sanctioned individuals. Last year, the Government increased public access to trust information on the ROE through the launch of the trust disclosure service on 31 August. The service allows members of the public to apply to Companies House for access to trust information held on the register. Applicants must provide their own details, together with the overseas entity’s name and identification number. While this information is publicly available, applicants must also provide the name of the trust they wish to investigate. However, the trust’s name is not publicly available on the register.
In addition, where an application relates to trust information involving a person under the age of 18, the applicant must demonstrate a legitimate interest. This requires evidence that they are investigating money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing or sanctions breaches. Where legitimate interest cannot be demonstrated, all associated trust information is withheld, including information relating to adults. These requirements can create barriers to access and limit the effectiveness of the service. This instrument will therefore make two targeted changes to improve public access to trust information and ensure that the service operates as intended.
First, it will remove the requirement for applicants to provide the trust name when requesting information. This addresses a significant barrier, as many applicants are unlikely to know that information, resulting in applications being rejected. Secondly, the instrument will change how information is held where a trust involves a person under the age of 18. Where legitimate interest is not demonstrated, Companies House will be able to disclose trust information relating to adults while continuing to withhold information relating to the individual under 18. This will ensure that access is not unnecessarily restricted simply because a minor is connected to the trust. Information relating to those under 18 will continue to require a legitimate interest before it can be disclosed. Taken together, these changes will increase transparency and public scrutiny while maintaining appropriate protections for minors.
The instrument will also make targeted improvements to the ROE protection regime by simplifying the process for removing a residential address from the public register. Currently, individuals may apply to Companies House to have their home address removed, but they must provide supporting evidence. This protection regime helps safeguard individuals who may face the risk of violence or intimidation if their personal information is publicly available.
These regulations will remove the requirement to submit supporting evidence when applying to remove a home address from a public ROE. In most cases, the register can already verify whether an address is residential. The change therefore removes an unnecessary administrative burden. The regulations will also require applicants to provide a replacement service address for publication on the register, except in limited circumstances.
Finally, the instrument will make a limited technical correction to the LLP framework. A requirement to provide additional address information was inadvertently introduced ahead of schedule; these regulations remove that requirement for now. It will be reinstated once the necessary systems are in place for both companies and LLPs. Work to achieve that is already under way. In the meantime, other address information will remain publicly available.
Taken together, these are sensible and proportionate amendments. They improve the transparency and operation of the ROE while making a necessary technical correction to the LLP framework. I thank noble Lords in advance for their contributions and will endeavour to address in my concluding remarks the points that they may raise. I am grateful for the support shown across the House for these regulations. I beg to move.
Lord Ashcombe (Con)
My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to speak to these regulations, which form part of the ongoing work to strengthen and refine the register of overseas entities, a register introduced by the Conservative Government to bring greater transparency to overseas ownership of UK land and to protect our economy from illicit finance. The instrument before us makes targeted and practical improvements to ensure that the register continues to operate effectively, balancing transparency with the proper protection of personal and sensitive information. These are measured and proportionate adjustments that respond to operational experience and ensure that the system remains robust, fair and fit for purpose.
As the Minister has outlined, the purpose of the register is to increase transparency around the beneficial ownership of overseas entities that hold land in the United Kingdom and to strengthen the UK’s defence against illicit finance. The framework for the register, including the treatment of trust information, was designed to balance two important principles: first, transparency, to ensure that overseas ownership structures cannot be used to conceal criminal activity; and secondly, privacy and proportionality, particularly in relation to sensitive trust data and information involving minors.
Since the register came into force, operational experience has highlighted several areas where the legislation could be improved to ensure that the system functions as intended. These include: first, the requirement to provide the name of the trust when applying for trust information, which in some cases risked revealing personal or sensitive details; secondly, the rules governing access to trust information where minors are involved, which were found to be overly restrictive; and thirdly, the administrative burden placed on individuals seeking to remove their home address from the public register, even where Companies House could verify the information internally.
The regulations before the Grand Committee today are intended to address these practical issues. They refine the balance between transparency and privacy; ensure that sensitive information, particularly relating to children, is handled appropriately; and streamline processes where the register already has the means to verify information. Taken together, these amendments represent a continuation of the work begun when the register was created, strengthening its operation, improving its accuracy and ensuring that it remains a robust tool within the UK’s wider economic crime framework.
Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Ashcombe, to his new role and congratulate him on it, and I thank both noble Lords for the points raised during this very short debate. I start by saying that the UK’s approach to the ROE is way ahead of international standards in this area. The Government are continuing efforts to enhance transparency and support greater scrutiny of trusts’ information, where appropriate and proportionate, monitoring the impact of reforms and engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the register remains effective. Part of that effort is the asset ownership review, led by my noble friend Lady Hodge, announced in the Government’s anti-corruption strategy. This will, among other things, consider the approach to trust transparency across government.
I just touch on a point mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Fox. I have been told that the technology and systems in Companies House are holding back the required updating of information, but I have been informed that work to improve them is ongoing at pace, and a requirement for both LLPs and companies will, hopefully, be commenced very soon once that is completed. I do not have details at hand on when that will be completed, but I will get officials to find out from Companies House when it will be done.
The noble Lord made the point that a regular review and update from Companies House is well overdue. I will ensure that my officials reach out to Companies House to perhaps organise a drop-in session with interested Peers in this area, so at least we can ask officials from Companies House the questions that the noble Lord posed in respect of the timeframe, the technology system and, more importantly, the enforcement unit—where the resources have been allocated to make it effective. It is good having all this on the statute book and in legislation but, if enforcement is ineffective, it means nothing, so we must ensure that that is done as well. I am very grateful for the support across the Committee for these regulations.