After a bit of a time lapse against the original promised date, the UK government has published a timetable for a new law to create the ‘world’s first’ public register of overseas beneficial owners of property and bidders for public procurement contracts. It will require overseas entities that own UK property or bid for UK public procurement contracts to disclose details of their beneficial owners on a public register. Overseas entities will only be able to buy, sell, or lease property in the UK unless they are registered, this includes existing owners. Where a legal entity is the beneficial owner, other than an individual, disclosure further up the chain would be required until the ultimate individual owner is identified. The government claims this is the first register of its kind in the world. The register is due to become live in 2021 following legislation in 2019. Lexology has more details.