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Measures to expose dirty money stashed in UK property are being fast-tracked in order to target Russian oligarchs, Sky News understands.
Boris Johnson has repeatedly promised to “open up the Matryoshka doll of Russian-owned companies” which are often set up offshore so the true owners are not identified.
These companies are used to buy vast homes in London’s wealthiest areas, although MPs and campaigners have for years warned that this loophole can be used for money laundering by people linked to the Kremlin.
Number 10 is now planning to bring forward legislation as soon as next week to create a register for the beneficiaries of overseas firms, which would unmask the true owners and potentially subject them to sanctions.
Although the register would put offshore property owners “on notice”, it is expected the measures could still take up to a year to enforce.
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A No 10 source said: “Transparency is key to understanding who should be sanctioned. It’s our ambition to do this early next week but there’s a lot of work still to be done”.
Measures going to take over 24 months to implement
Officials in the Business Department had advised earlier this week that the measures were more than two years from being fully implemented, Sky News understands.
New processes to verify the identities of the company owners – to be carried out by Companies House – were not expected to be introduced to parliament until the autumn, where they could then take months to pass.
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The proposed implementation period for existing property owners was 18 months, but this may now be cut to 12…
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Source : skynews
