The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022

New legislation introduces further sanctions powers and aims to tackle financial crime by revealing identities of overseas beneficial owners of UK property.

By Stuart Alford QC, Robert Price, Thomas Lane, and Harriet Slater

Following the UK government’s successive sanctions packages, which are the subject of recent Latham & Watkins Client Alerts,[1] the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been extended to cover wider financial crime measures.

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (Act) received royal assent on 15 March 2022, introducing a new register of overseas entities (Register) holding UK property assets, alongside changes to the unexplained wealth order (UWO) and sanctions regimes. Reforms to the role of Companies House are expected to follow in subsequent legislation.