UPDATE 13 DECEMBER 2021 On 13 December 2021, during the release of its iOS 15.2 update, Apple officially released its Digital Legacy feature, which lets people choose the specific people (up to five family members or friends) who will be able to access their account after they die. The chosen contacts will then be able… Read More Progress on digital legacy planning from internet service providers
The Law Commission of England and Wales has announced a public consultation on its 14th Programme of Law Reform and has published a scoping document providing background on the programme and ideas for potential projects. STEP is hosting a joint webinar with the Law Commission on 19 May to discuss the proposals in further detail.… Read More Invitation to STEP/Law Commission free webinar on its 14th Programme of Law Reform
The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced a public consultation on increasing selected court fees in line with historical inflation dating from August 2016 to April 2021, or from the year the fee was last amended (capped at August 2016). The proposal is limited to fees which are under-recovering compared to the estimated cost… Read More MoJ announces consultation on court fee increases
STEP attended a virtual meeting held by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on 18 March to discuss potential amendments to FATF Standards Recommendation 24 and its implementation. FATF announced its intention to review this area, which may lead to a comprehensive overhaul of the system of beneficial ownership (BO), at a private sector consultative… Read More STEP attends FATF meeting to discuss beneficial ownership regime
On 11 February, STEP Europe held a webinar to examine how various jurisdictions have transposed the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), and particularly how those Member States have chosen to define a business relationship. The panel included Stéphanie Auferil TEP from France; Dr Petra Camilleri from Malta; Aileen Keogan TEP from Ireland; Filippo Noseda TEP… Read More Trusts and AML-CFT registers of beneficial owners: I’m a trustee, do I need to register somewhere?
On 27 January 2021, Paolo Panico TEP, the Chair of STEP Europe, moderated a webinar hosted by Anti-Money Laundering Europe (AME) on the future of the European Union’s policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The panel included Steve Ryan, deputy head of the financial crime unit in the Directorate-General (DG) Internal Market and… Read More The future of EU policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) invited some of the UK’s financial industry experts, including STEP, to join an overview of the OECD’s current review of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The OECD will launch a consultation later this year, but has requested early input from industry experts on the improvements and changes that they would… Read More The OECD reviews the Common Reporting Standard
The disclosure of cross-border tax planning arrangements under Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 (DAC6) came into force on 1 July 2020 and requires reporting of any persons involved in cross-border arrangements, including loan agreements, payments from a resident of one country to a resident of another, or putting funds in an offshore trust, if one of the… Read More The UK replaces DAC6 with the OECD’s model Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR) post-Brexit
On 24 November, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held its private sector consultative forum on beneficial ownership of legal persons, which focused on Recommendation 24 Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons of the FATF Recommendations. FATF stated that it is undergoing a major review of this area, which may lead to a comprehensive… Read More FATF holds consultative forum to inform review of beneficial ownership system
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) have jointly initiated a project to modernise the process of making and registering lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), which may include an element of digitisation. They will be collaborating on a series of scoping events, roundtables and surveys to obtain research that… Read More Modernising Lasting Powers of Attorneys in England and Wales
The STEP Blog 