Should offshore trustees be afraid of unexplained wealth orders (UWOs)? The recent case of NCA v Baker, which concerned high value London property held through offshore structures, gives some valuable reassurance.

UWOs were introduced in 2017 as a mechanism whereby a respondent, who must be a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) or someone connected with a PEP, can be required to provide information to show how certain property was acquired. 

In order to obtain an UWO, the authorities have to show that a respondent “holds” property (the holding requirement) and that the respondent’s known sources of income would ...