A new study has shown the Turner Little team how much capital offshore companies have invested in the English and Welsh Property markets since the year 2000.
Cracking down
As many legitimate reasons as there are for registering a company offshore, this tactic has been used in the past to launder “dirty money” through the UK’s property market. This summer UK Prime Minister David promised to crack down on the practice, but a recent investigation by Property Week has shown that the situation is more serious than previously thought.
Offshore investment
The online publication’s analysis of Land Registry data found that a phenomenal £263 billion has been invested in the English and Welsh property sectors by offshore registered firms since 2000. Their study also showed that the amount invested in English and Welsh property by offshore companies increased 1,500% from £2 billion in 2000, to £32billion last year.
The research also indicated that roughly a third of total investment (£85 billion) came from companies registered in Jersey – a channel island which is a ‘crown dependency’ of the UK. Meanwhile £50 billion was invested by companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, a ‘British Overseas Territory.’
Unable to assess
The National Crime Agency, the government organisation which is responsible for reducing serious and organised crime in the UK, responded to the Property Week investigation. They said that they had no way of assessing how much of the £263 billion that was invested by offshore companies in English and property was “dirty money.”
A spokesman from the agency said that “a combination of factors mean that we will never know exactly how much criminal money is being laundered through the UK market.” They went on to comment, “these factors include the hidden nature of the problem, the intermingling of legitimate and illegitimate funds and the lack of transparency in some source countries.”
Turner Little
You need to utilise the knowledge of experts to register your company offshore in an effective and legitimate manner. Turner Little provides the offshore company formation services you require to incorporate your firm overseas.
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agents, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust providers.
