What You Need To Know About The UK's Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)

On 27 April 2017, the UK Parliament passed the Criminal Finance Act 2017 (Act) into law amending the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The Act, amongst other things, introduces the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) effective from 31 January 2018.

What is the UWO about?

The UWO is an Order granted by a UK High Court judge upon an application by a UK enforcement agency requiring a person (respondent) to explain the nature of its interest in property (real estate and other assets), how it obtained the property, details of any trust or settlement where the property is so held and any other information as required by the court.

Objective

The UWO seeks to address illicit financial flows, corruption and money laundering in the UK. It gives law enforcement agencies new capabilities and powers to recover the proceeds of crime.

Scope

A UWO can be issued against a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) - an individual entrusted with public functions by an international organisation or a State other than the UK or European Economic Area (EEA). The UWO also applies to a PEP's family members, close associates or connected persons.

A UWO would be issued where a court has reasonable cause to believe that a respondent:

has an interest in property the value of which exceeds GBP50,000 (circa N25 million); and its known sources of income are insufficient to enable the respondent acquire the property; or there are reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent or a persons connected to them have been involved in a serious crime in or outside the UK. It would not matter if the property was jointly held. Also where a PEP holds different properties, the total value of all the properties is taken into account.

How is the UWO obtained?

An enforcement agency must, by an application (with or without notice), satisfy the court that the conditions set out above have been met.

The court may also grant an interim freezing order where it is convinced that there is a risk against recovery of such property. Upon granting the UWO, a respondent is given a number of days to provide a statement explaining, amongst other things how it acquired the property. Failure to do so within the required time creates a presumption that the property can be recovered in subsequent...

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