Under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, overseas entities must register their beneficial owners on the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE). The register is operated by Companies House and failure to comply with the legislation can result in sanctions, including fines and restrictions on UK property transactions. Below is a step-by-step guide to explain the process for registering on the ROE. It is important that all information is completed correctly to ensure full compliance with the Act:
In order to register on the ROE, the overseas entity must first be verified by an authorised agent who has been approved by Companies House. Authorised agents include legal professionals, accountants and financial institutions. ProSec is an authorised agent who will be able to register your overseas entity for you. Once you contact your chosen authorised agent, they will gather the required information, review it and inform you if/when it has been verified.
As part of the registration process the agent will also be required to complete a verification checks statement.
The next step is to identify the beneficial owners, so that the correct information can be provided to Companies House. The beneficial owners can be an individual or another legal entity who ultimately owns or controls a property or company. You can find more information explaining how to identify beneficial owners in our article, What is the Definition of a Beneficial Owner?
Once the beneficial owners have been identified, key information about them must be provided for the registration. This includes the date on which they became a registrable beneficial owner and whether they are subject to sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.
As part of the registration process, KYC (Know Your Customer) documents for beneficial owners or managing officers must be provided to provide proof of identity. These documents include:
These documents need to be certified by authorised professionals and the original wet ink documents sent to your authorised agent.
The beneficial owner will then be served a section 12 notice by the overseas entity which asks the beneficial owner to confirm their status.
The final step in the process is to use the ROE online portal on Companies House to register the overseas entity and submit the application. A Companies House account must be set up to be able to submit the registration and a credit or debit card payment of £100 must be paid.
Companies House will review the application and contact the approved agent and the overseas entity to confirm whether the application has been accepted. If it is accepted, the beneficial owners and managing directors are added to the Register of Overseas Entities and an Overseas Entity ID will be issued.
As a Companies House authorised agent, ProSec can provide the verification service that is required for ROE registration. Using the same company to verify the entity and to complete the ROE application will make the process easier and faster. Contact our team for support and advice regarding the ROE verification and application process.
