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New laws designed to tackle “dirty money” hidden in the UK have cleared the House of Commons, amid calls for ministers to go further in seizing oligarchs’ assets.
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill received an unopposed third reading after it was rushed through the Commons on Monday.
Reforms contained in the Bill have been delayed for months and only moved up the government’s list of priorities after the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
They will undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords, with Business Minister Paul Scully committing the government to making further amendments that deal with concerns over potential loopholes in the Bill.
These include dealing with what Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith called a “back door” for those hoping to avoid reporting requirements under the new register of overseas entities.
The legislation is set to establish a new register of overseas entities requiring foreign owners of property in the UK to declare their true identity.
The register would need to be updated each year and punishments for failing to declare details, or submitting false information, would result in the asset being frozen and it cannot be sold or rented out.
The Bill states an offence is committed if a person acts “knowingly or recklessly” when submitting false information to the register, although Mr Smith and others warned this could set the threshold too high and not result in any court action.
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Cars are left abandoned on a road as residents flee the town of Irpin, Ukraine after days of heavy shelling. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier helps a family fleeing from Irpin. Reuters -
A bus passes the Duke of Wellington statue, which has a traffic cone in the colours of the flag of Ukraine placed on top of it, in Glasgow, Scotland. AP -
Ukrainian children sleep at the reception point at the train station in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Smoke rises as a Ukrainian soldier stands by the only escape route used by locals to flee from the town of Irpin. Reuters -
A man flees from Irpin. Reuters -
A screengrab from footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows a purported Russian tank unit advancement in the Kyiv region. AFP -
People walk on debris of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the Zhytomyr region. Reuters -
A damaged residential building after Russian multiple rocket launchers shelled the area in the southern city of Mykolaiv. AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers sit in their armoured vehicle after fighting against Russian troops and Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, Luhansk region. AFP -
A woman offers accommodation for people fleeing Ukraine at the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images -
A soldier holds a helmet as a wedding crown during the ceremony for members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov, at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers carry a woman fleeing the town of Irpin. AP -
A factory and warehouse burn after being bombarded in Irpin. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers near Zolote. AFP -
A Ukrainian refugee boy, wearing a blanket on his shoulders, warms his hands with a gas heater shortly after crossing the Siret border into northern Romania. EPA -
People demonstrate against the Russian military operation in Ukraine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. EPA -
First responders work at the scene after a missile hit a building at Havryshivka Vinnytsia International Airport in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Reuters -
A woman at a checkpoint on the road to Kyiv after her evacuation from a nearby town. AFP -
A placard in the Ukrainian colours is held up at an anti-war demonstration the Bebelplatz square in Berlin, Germany. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman helps an elderly woman in Irpin, 20 kilometres north-west of the capital Kyiv. AP Photo -
Protesters cry during a demonstration in support of Ukraine at the Plaza Catalunya square in Barcelona. AFP -
A man walks past a machine gun at a checkpoint next to the last bridge on the road that connects the town of Stoyanka to the outskirts of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen put a wounded man on a stretcher in Irpin. AP Photo -
People board a train to return to Ukraine after getting supplies in Zahony, Hungary. AP Photo -
Balloons in the colors of Ukraine during a demonstration against the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Mainz, Germany. AP -
A Ukrainian girl helps to weave a camouflage net for the Ukrainian army, in Odesa. EPA -
Molotov cocktails prepared by a group of volunteers in Odesa. Hundreds are made every day. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen assist people fleeing the town of Irpin after crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian air strike. AP Photo -
A woman holds a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, while assisting people fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine. AP Photo -
Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend Fedor comfort each other at a hospital in Mariupol after her 18-month-old son Kirill was killed by shelling. AP Photo -
Ukrainian civilians receive weapons training in a cinema in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo -
Residents flee the town of Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
Ukrainian soldiers carry a sick woman as civilians flee Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after Russian attacks. AP Photo -
Captured Russian soldiers at a press conference in the Interfax news agency in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
Ukrainians beneath a destroyed bridge in Irpin. AP Photo -
A woman fleeing Ukraine on a bus near the border crossing in Korczowa, Poland. AP Photo -
A Ukrainian soldier and a militia man help a fleeing family on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022. AP Photo -
Smoke rises after shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol. AP Photo -
People at a hospital during shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol. AP Photo -
Displaced Ukrainians at the Resurrection New Athos Monastery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP
Conservative former minister David Davis also tabled an amendment to enable the government to publish a “hit list” of people being considered for sanctions.
It also sought to deny the named people selling their assets or moving funds or assets out of the UK.
But this proposal was defeated by 300 votes to 234 despite the division list showing nine Conservative MPs rebelled to support it.
Speaking during committee stage of the Bill, Mr Scully told MPs that the government wanted to make sure the “drafting is right” for those backbench amendments that it has “sympathy” with.
“I am happy to work with colleagues who moved those amendments to make sure that we can get that right and see what more we can do in the Lords,” he said.
Pressed by Tory MP Mr Smith to confirm if the government would only seek to add measures from backbench amendments in the Lords rather than in the Commons, Mr Scully said: “Essentially, yes.”
MPs voted 306 to 225 to reject a Labour amendment that sought to compel the government to publish draft legislation on reforms to Companies House.
They also voted voted 303 to 229 to reject an amendment calling for a report on the funding of enforcement agencies linked with reforms to unexplained wealth orders.
Four Tory MPs rebelled to support this proposal, according to the division list.
Amendments to the legislation tabled by ministers in a bid to reduce the time given for overseas entities to comply with new rules, from 18 months to six, were approved by MPs.
Labour suggested the allowance should be cut to 28 days while Conservative former minister Sir Bob Neill said three months would “meet the balance very sensibly”.
Speaking during the Bill’s second reading, Home Secretary Priti Patel called Russian president Vladimir Putin a “gangster” and said: “Putin’s cronies have hidden dirty money in the UK and across the West and we do not want it here.
“Expediting this legislation, which I know this whole House supports, will mean that we can crack down on the people who abuse the UK’s open society.”
As MPs considered amendments, Mr Davis outlined why further action is needed to seize assets.
“What will we see during the months it takes to get these people sanctioned? We’ll see Russians scrambling to sell off their houses, disposing of their businesses, offloading their football clubs,” he said.
He said that by the time the sanctions take effect, the “horse will have well and truly bolted”.
Labour former minister Chris Bryant also pressed the government to go further, adding: “We also want seizure of assets.
“There’s not much point in sanctioning people if it’s not going to have any effect and this is also extremely timely, it has to happen rapidly because of all the things we’ve said about asset flight.”
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran welcomed the “long overdue” legislation, adding: “It’s a bit of a Swiss cheese Bill because there is a lot in this Bill that’s good but there are a lot of loopholes that we’re seeking to close.”
