Explanatory note

These Regulations make provision relating to the register of overseas entities (“the ROE”) kept by the registrar of companies for England and Wales (“the registrar”) in accordance with Part 1 of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (c. 10). The provisions relate to the protection of information, the disclosure of trust information and additional required information from overseas entities and registrable beneficial owners which are legal entities.

Part 2 amends the Register of Overseas Entities (Delivery, Protection and Trust Services) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/870) to allow for anyone to make an application for protection whose information could be published or disclosed by the registrar under ROE. This is because Part 3 will allow for information about trusts to be disclosed which could not otherwise be. Regulation 3(2)(a) and (b) allows for a wider range of people to make an application and regulation 6 includes additional grounds under which an application for protection may be made. Part 2 also removes reference to “specified public authorities” in the 2022 Regulations as this has been superseded by section 25(6) of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, which was substituted by section 168 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (c. 56).

Part 3 allows for anyone to apply to the registrar for disclosure of trust information. Regulation 4(2) imposes a condition that applicants have to demonstrate they have a legitimate interest, set out in regulation 4(3)(f), if they want to make a bulk application or if the information relates to minors. Regulation 4(3) sets out the information that needs to be included in an application. Regulation 4(4) allows for the registrar to tell an applicant that they need to satisfy the condition in regulation 4(2). This is because an applicant may not know when first making the application that it would result in the disclosure of information relating to minors. Regulation 4(5) sets out the reasons the registrar may refuse an application and regulation 4(8) states that the registrar may impose conditions relating to the disclosure.