The UK government is currently proposing that the “element of duration” is a period of 12 months or more, and so one-off exercises may potentially fall outside the net and those trusts will not be required to register, however, as we do not yet have draft legislation for these changes, we will have to see what is eventually introduced.  

The new legislation also requires Obliged Entities to notify the relevant authorities where they become aware that the beneficial ownership information on the UK People with Strategic Control register (PSC), is incorrect.

The PSC register was introduced in 2016 and it is a legal requirement that all UK companies register those people holding Strategic Control, usually a 25 per cent holding or more.

The new rules will further tighten the requirements in the UK to set out who owns or controls UK companies.

Summary

Over the last decade we have seen the world, including the UK becoming much more transparent.

In the early days this was driven often by voluntary action.

In the last number of years, we have seen countries around the world, certainly within the EU, including the UK, turning more and more towards legislation to create a transparent environment.

The 5th Money Laundering Directive certainly adds to that picture.

The increase in transparency around crypto assets, will open the door to new audiences, although will be much lamented by those involved in its creation.

We have started to see a number of well-known international financial institutions starting to offer crypto services, and clear regulatory and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing rules will open the door to more International institutions looking into the space with interest.

Gary Ashford is a Tax Partner at Harbottle & Lewis LLP.  He is Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Vice President of CFE Tax Advisers Europe.