London, UK, Monday, March 11, 2024 – From April, UK’s law enforcement agencies will have the power to seize any crypto asset even in the absence of a conviction, according to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2024 which outline a phased rollout of the act’s provisions. 1
The law will come into effect from April 26, 2024. From March 4, all companies dealing with crypto assets will have to register with relevant authorities.
This is one of the new regulations coming into effect this year to grant law enforcement agencies the power to freeze crypto assets suspected of being used in criminal activity, even in the absence of a conviction.
Starting March 4, 2024 (last week), companies are now required to declare their lawful purposes upon registration.
New regulations on company names have been implemented as of March 4th to prevent misleading or criminal activities. Additionally, more stringent requirements for registered office addresses and email addresses have come into effect on the same date.
The most significant change takes effect on April 26, 2024. Law enforcement is now empowered to freeze crypto assets believed to be linked to crimes such as cyberattacks, scams, and drug trafficking. This authority is granted without requiring a prior conviction.
Also effective from April 26th are civil procedures that enable authorities to recover crypto assets used in crimes.
The act also encourages information sharing between regulators concerning economic crime. The regulations include transitional provisions to ease implementation. Existing companies will have a grace period to comply with the new lawful purpose requirement. Overseas entities registered before March 4th will have a later deadline to submit beneficial ownership information.
- legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/269/made/data.pdf[↩]
