In this article, we discuss the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian assets (Australian Register) which is to commence operation by the end of 2024 and be administered by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Our team at HopgoodGanim delivers exceptional outcomes for financial crime and corporate investigations, advising on corporate anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime litigation.
Australia is likely to follow the lead of the United Kingdom (UK) which, on 15 March 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fast tracked the introduction of a beneficial ownership register for foreign-owned property in the UK (UK Register). 1
The purpose of this (public) Register is to stop what has been described as the ‘London laundromat’ for washing dirty money and thereby prevent foreign criminals using shell companies and complex trust structures to acquire high-value properties, such as in the London Belgravia district, which is a renowned location for properties acquired with ‘black’ money.
Failure to register beneficial ownership of a qualifying interest in property, or submitting false information for registration, is a criminal offence under the Economic Crime Act and may result in an offender being prevented from buying, selling, or mortgaging property in the United Kingdom in the future.
In Australia, as of 1 January 2021, Part 7A of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 provides for a Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian assets (Australian Register) which is to commence operation by the end of 2024.
Part 7A requires foreign persons to notify the Foreign Investments Review Board (FIRB) of interests acquired through any of the following:
- an acquisition of Australian land, including mining or production tenements;
- an acquisition of exploration tenements;
- the taking of certain significant actions, notifiable actions, notifiable national security actions or reviewable notifiable national security actions in relation to entities or businesses.
At this stage, the Australian Register will not be publicly accessible, and the information will only be shared across government departments presumably to identify money laundering and other national security risks. However this may well evolve into a form more similar to the UK Register.
Special series: AML and counter-terrorism financing laws
This article is part 4 of our content series, 'The money laundering deck: AML and counter-terrorism financing laws'. The series uses Russia as a case study to provide an analogy for how businesses can be impacted by AML and counter-terrorism financing laws while operating in Australia. Read the related articles in the series here:
- Trade-based money laundering: Russian sanctions
- Anti-money laundering agencies and enforcement
- Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011: Breaches and implications
- Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets - Australian Register (this page)
- Anti-money laundering and sanctions law: Case studies
1. Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (Economic Crime Act)