Updates from Companies House

News about the register of overseas entities and a call for research volunteers

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Overseas entities that own land or property in the UK had until 31 January 2023 to declare their beneficial owners and/or managing officers and register these with Companies House.   

Overseas entities which failed to meet this deadline will now face severe restrictions on their ability to buy and sell property and could risk future financial penalties or prosecution.  

Companies House is urging all in scope overseas entities to contact it urgently if they have yet to register. 

Read the BEIS press notice about the end of the Register of Overseas Entities transition period.  

Further reading on ROE and useful links 

Volunteers required to test the first version of the ROE discrepancy prototype 

From 1 April 2023, under The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022, obliged entities must tell Companies House if there’s a difference between registrable beneficial owners held on the Register of Overseas Entities and the information they hold about any registrable beneficial owners.  

This will help Companies House make sure that the register is accurate and up to date, similar to the Report a discrepancy about a beneficial owner on the PSC register  

Companies House is developing this service and is looking for volunteers to be involved in user research. If you can help, send an email to surveys@companieshouse.gov.uk, with ‘ROE discrepancies’ in the subject line.

If you are not available for this research but would like to be contacted about future research opportunities, you can sign up to our Register of Overseas Entities user panel.