On 15 July 2020, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and HM Treasury (HMT) co-published a summary of responses to their technical consultation on the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) and Trust Registration Service.

On 24 January 2020, HMRC and HMT published a technical consultation ‘Fifth Money Laundering Directive and Trust Registration Service’. The consultation outlined how the Government intended to implement changes to the Trust Registration Service (TRS) as required by 5MLD. The Government sought views and evidence on the extension of the TRS including the draft legislation and proposals on the types of trusts that will be required to register, on processes for data collection and sharing, and on penalties. The document now published summarises the main responses received, the Government’s response and next steps.

The Government states that the responses to the consultation have informed the proposed legislation, which has been laid for consideration by the European Statutory Instruments Committee in the House of Commons and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords.