Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reforming the trust fund system to help ensure they cannot be used by people to evade sanctions associated with the invasion of Ukraine.

This question was answered on 7th June 2023
The UK has imposed the most severe package of financial sanctions in history in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and working with partners, we are isolating Russia from the global economy.

In December 2022, the Government introduced new sanctions which specifically prohibit UK persons from providing trust services to or for the benefit of designated individuals or persons connected with Russia.

In addition, last year the government introduced the Register of Overseas Entities through the Economic Crime, Transparency and Enforcement Act. The register collects information on the beneficial owners of trusts who own UK property. This information, alongside that in HMRC’s register of UK trusts is made available to UK law enforcement agencies. This gives law enforcement the tools it needs to identify and prevent criminals who may wish to use trusts operating in the UK to launder money.

The Government will continue to keep our response under review to ensure that as illicit finance threats evolve, our ability to respond effectively does too.