Register of Overseas Entities
The Register of Overseas Entities at Companies House records the beneficial ownership of overseas entities that own UK land. Introduced by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, registration on the ROE — including beneficial owner details verified by a UK-supervised agent — is required for any overseas entity that owns, buys, or sells UK property. Failure to register makes the entity unable to register the property or carry out future transactions on it.
any client who is an overseas entity owning UK land must be on the ROE. When acting for such a client, the ROE filing is now part of routine compliance alongside HMRC filings — and ROE-recorded beneficial owners should be cross-checked against the firm's independent beneficial-ownership findings.
How different roles use Register of Overseas Entities
A good definition should change the next action for the person reading it.
Partner or director
Check whether this term affects acceptance risk, fee scope, supervision exposure, or sign-off responsibility.
ContinueMLRO or compliance lead
Map the term to evidence, escalation, monitoring, training, and inspection readiness.
ContinueClient-facing team member
Use the plain-English explanation to ask better client questions and write clearer file notes.
ContinueOther terms that go with Register of Overseas Entities
A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity — such as a company or trust — or on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted. Identifying beneficial ownership is a core CDD obligation where clients are companies, partnerships, or trusts, since the legal owner and the true controlling person may be different.
The Ultimate Beneficial Owner is the final natural person at the top of an ownership chain — the individual who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity, even if that control runs through multiple layers of holding companies or trusts. UBO identification is a CDD requirement for corporate clients and is central to preventing criminals from using complex structures to obscure ownership.
A Person with Significant Control is a UK Companies Act concept that refers to an individual who holds more than 25% of shares or voting rights in a UK company, can appoint or remove the majority of the board, or otherwise exercises significant influence or control. UK companies must maintain a PSC register and file it at Companies House.
Before you treat Register of Overseas Entities as handled
- Confirm which regulation, policy, or internal procedure the term maps to.
- Document the decision or evidence trail in the client file, not only in email or chat.
- Escalate where the term indicates higher risk, sanctions exposure, PEP status, suspicion, or missing evidence.
- Keep the wording consistent across onboarding, review notes, training material, and inspection packs.
Put Register of Overseas Entities into practice with Certivus
Knowing the term is the first step. Certivus gives you the workflows — client intake, CDD, EDD, PEP and sanctions screening, audit-ready records — to apply it across every client.
Back to the full glossary