Russia increasing troop numbers in south to prepare for Ukrainian counteroffensive; UK register of overseas entities comes into force
Ukrainian offensive forces Russia to bolster troops in southHundreds of thousands urged to evacuate Donetsk regionWhat we know on day 159 of the invasion
Britain will now require foreign companies holding UK property to identify their true owners in an official register as part of a crackdown on Russian oligarchs and corrupt elites laundering illicit wealth.
The register of overseas entities, which becomes active from today, is part of a wider economic crime law enacted this year in an effort to stop the flow of illicit Russian cash into London following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
To ensure we are free of corrupt elites with suspicious wealth, we need to know who owns what.
We are lifting the curtain and cracking down on those criminals attempting to hide their illicitly obtained wealth.”