Times: the British government creates the world’s first registry of property of the oligarchs
The identification of the rich foreign owners of British property, whose main business is abroad, involves the plan of the government of the United Kingdom, said on Thursday the newspaper the Times.
LONDON, April 6. /TASS/. Oligarchs hiding behind anonymous companies which own in the UK luxury homes and estates billions of pounds, will have to disclose their names in accordance with the new rules on combating corruption.
According to her information, the British Cabinet decided to create the world’s first such registry. It will contain the names of the oligarchs, foreign government officials and politicians who used companies to buy expensive houses in London, thereby affecting the local real estate market.
This step, as informed in the National Agency for the fight against crime, improve the transparency of the real estate market, especially in the Central districts of London, will promote the tracking of capital flows, obtained illegally, and the fight against money laundering.
In the interests of transparency of the market
According to recent estimates, foreign companies in England and Wales owned the property value of 122 billion pounds ($152 billion). While 160 of real estate, estimated at 4.4 billion pounds, passed from hand to hand as a result of secret deals.
A large part of the luxury property owned by foreign businessmen, located in London, primarily in the areas of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea. Recent investigation in respect of 14 new houses in the city revealed that 80% of homes were bought by foreign investors, 40% were purchased using suspicious or hidden capital, the newspaper said.
Many of the companies owning houses or apartments in the UK, registered in such offshore zones like the British virgin Islands, which makes it impossible to determine who actually owns real estate.
The creation of such a registry will strengthen, according to the Deputy Minister on Affairs of business Margot James, the reputation of the UK as a “respectable and trustworthy country”.
The real estate market of the Kingdom shall be considered honest, transparent and clean to make it attractive for reliable investors. Honest businessmen have nothing to fear, that they in some way support criminal activity, investing in the British economy.Margo Jessamine business
Because of such a registry is still nowhere to be found, then the British government, as noted by the Deputy Minister, will “proceed with caution, achieving a balance between transparency and minimising burdens on legislative activities.”