Part 2 – Limited partnerships etc National security exemption from identity verification Section 147: National security exemption from identity verification
This section inserts new section 36 to the Limited Partnerships Act 1907. Section 36 sets out that the Secretary of State may by written notice exempt a person from identity verification requirements if it is necessary to do so: (a) in the interests of national security, or (b) for the purposes or preventing or detecting serious crime (subsection (1)). This provision corresponds to new section 1110C introduced to Companies Act 2006 by section 67.
	Subsection (2) sets out the effects of the exemption for individuals subject to a written notice. This includes allowing to name an unverified person as (proposed) registered officer of a (proposed) general partner and not requiring any verification statements from them in various applications (to form a limited partnership, to notify a new general partner who is a legal entity, to change such partner's registered officer). Subsection (2)(b) allows also to exempt a general partner from the duty to maintain register officer's verified status or and subsection (2)(e) to exempt a person from the duty to deliver certain documents by an authorized corporate service provider.
	Subsection (3) defines the meaning of ‘crime’ and explains that it is means conduct that is either a criminal offence, or would be a criminal offence if it took place in any one part of the United Kingdom. It is ‘serious crime’ if it would lead, on conviction, to a maximum prison sentence of 3 years or more, or if the conduct involves the use of violence, results in substantial financial gain or is conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose.