On 10 January 2020, the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) was transposed into UK law.  One objective of the 5MLD was to broaden the scope of trusts required to comply with and sign up to the Trust Register Service (TRS), which may apply to some GP surgeries depending on how they are structured.

Property-owning GP partners may be required to register, particularly where the names on the land registry entry do not match the names of the property-owning partners, or where there are more than five surgery-owning partners. Similarly, and depending on the precise wording of your Primary Care Network (PCN) agreement, monies held by one practice on behalf of a PCN could be construed as the formation of a trust and may trigger a registration requirement.

Unless exempt, 5MLD requires the express trusts to register with the TRS.  HMRC has published guidance on what may constitute an express trust and instances where exemptions may apply.

If you are unsure whether you need to register with the TRS, it is important that you receive independent legal advice, as a failure to register may result in financial and criminal penalties.  The deadline for registration is 1 September 2022.