What? The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, published 22 September 2022, proposes fundamental changes to Companies House. The government intends these changes to improve data reliability at Companies House...more
On January 1, 2023, amendments to the Ontario Business Corporations Act (“OBCA”) came into effect. Most notably, the OBCA now requires that private corporations in Ontario create and maintain a register of all “individuals...more
The UK government is taking further measures to tackle economic crime in the UK, reforming its corporate register, and giving extra powers to the Serious Fraud Office. The UK has published the new Economic Crime and...more
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has pushed forward a wider government agenda to encourage transparency in relation to how overseas entities own UK real estate. We first reported many years ago on the details of the...more
In the early hours of 15 March 2022, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (the “Act”) came into force. The rapid passage of the Act through the UK Parliament, after years of delays, came in response to...more
On 1 March the Home Office introduced the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill (the "Bill"). The most significant change, introduced in Part 1 of the Bill, is the creation of a new, public "Register of Overseas...more
The Situation: The purchase of property in the United Kingdom has, for various reasons, become an attractive mechanism by which to launder criminal proceeds through overseas entities. The Solution: A draft bill is...more
The UK government has recently launched a consultation on proposals to reform UK limited partnerships (LPs). LPs have long been considered to be an attractive investment vehicle due to the limited liability of limited...more
The PSC regime is not new, having created obligations on UK limited companies and UK LLPs (LLP) to maintain a register of persons with significant control (PSC) since June 2016. What is new, and is of significance to private...more
Important reforms designed to increase the transparency of the ownership and control of UK companies and English law LLPs were introduced in the UK on 6 April 2016. Among the most significant of these was a requirement for UK...more
From 24 July 2017, UK companies whose shares are admitted to trade on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, and other companies listed on prescribed markets, will no longer be exempt from the requirements to keep and...more
On 5 April 2017, the then UK government published a Call for Evidence seeking views on the design of an innovative public register intended to show beneficial ownership of overseas legal entities ("overseas entities") that...more
In this newsletter, we provide a snapshot of the principal US, European and selected international governance and securities law developments of interest to Asian corporates and financial institutions. ...more
The New Register - From 6 April 2016, most UK companies, LLPs and Societas Europaea became required to maintain a register of “persons with significant control” (PSCs). A PSC is defined as an individual who ultimately...more
1. With effect from April 6, 2016, all companies incorporated or formed under the UK Companies Acts, other than exempt companies (see paragraph 3), and all limited liability partnerships (LLPs) incorporated under the UK...more
From 6 April 2016, UK companies must identify and maintain a public register of persons with significant control. Those persons must supply companies with necessary information or face criminal and other penalties....more