Introduction
On 1 April 2025, the UK government confirmed that the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) — which was established under the National Security Act 20231 — will come into force from 1 July 2025. The UK government has published extensive guidance related to compliance with the scheme, including specific guidance for different industries and sectors.2 The UK government has also announced its intention to place enhanced requirements on political activities undertaken on behalf of two jurisdictions – Iran and Russia.
In a July 2024 alert, we noted that the UK government intended to expand on the UK lobbying regime with new controls targeting political activities undertaken in the UK on behalf of foreign governments. The registration requirements under the FIRS are separate to the requirements under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, which require “consultant lobbyists” to register their activities. The FIRS expands on the registration obligations and is intended to provide greater transparency in politics and foreign influence activities in the UK to protect the country’s national security interests.
In this alert, we provide an overview of the FIRS and the guidance provided by the UK government, and consider the potential implications for companies that may fall within scope of the scheme.
What Is the FIRS?
The FIRS was introduced under Part 4 of the National Security Act 2023 and its purpose is: (i) to build on the UK’s existing lobbying framework by requiring greater transparency into political activities of foreign powers within the UK; and (ii) in the case of certain specified jurisdictions, to protect the UK’s national security interests.3
The FIRS creates a two-tier registration scheme for arrangements with parties to carry out political activities in the UK at the direction of a foreign power.4 The parties to these arrangements — and not the foreign powers themselves — will have an obligation to register the arrangement under one of the two tiers. Failure to register when required to do so will be a criminal offence. The tiers provided under the FIRS are the political influence and enhanced tiers.
Political Influence Tier
Under the political influence tier, an individual or organisation will need to register any agreement or arrangement with a foreign power which directs the person to carry out (or arrange for others to carry out) political influence activities in the UK on behalf of the foreign power. This registration will generally be made public (or at least partially public) so that members of Parliament can easily verify under whose instruction someone is operating.
A “foreign power”5 is defined broadly by the National Security Act 2023 and includes sovereigns or other heads of state; foreign governments or a part of a foreign government; an agency or authority of a foreign government; or a governing political party. The definition also includes foreign-power employees acting in their official capacity (e.g., public employees/civil servants) and entities carrying out public functions, such as implementing government policies, law enforcement, and/or administrative work on behalf of the government (e.g., issuing passports).
The National Security Act 2023 provides that an activity is considered a “political influence activity” if it is carried out in the UK and satisfies two criteria:
- First, the activity must constitute (i) a communication to a senior public official or politician; (ii) a public communication; or (iii) providing money, goods or services to an entity or individual in the UK.
- Second, the activity must be undertaken for the purpose of influencing a UK election or referendum, a decision from a minister or a government department, the proceedings of a UK registered political party, or a member of Parliament.6
The government’s guidance provides some examples of activities that would not qualify under “political influence.” For example, an article that clearly states it was written or published at the direction of a foreign government, holding meetings with local politicians to influence local government decisions, and emails to a chief constable of a police force as a supplier of security equipment would not fall within the scope of the FIRS.
Agreements or arrangements made prior to the FIRS coming into force and completed by 1 July 2025 do not need to be registered. Ongoing agreements and arrangements entered into before the FIRS comes into effect and continuing thereafter must be registered by 1 October 2025. Any new agreements or arrangements that are within scope of the political influence tier and are entered into after the FIRS comes into force must be registered within 28 days from the date on which the agreement or arrangement was made.
Enhanced Tier
Under the enhanced tier, an individual or organisation will need to register any agreement or arrangement with a foreign power specified by the National Security Act or regulations (or another person controlled by such foreign power, such as a government entity) which directs the individual or organisation to carry out (or arrange for someone else to carry out) a relevant activity in the UK.
Unlike the political influence tier, registration under the enhanced tier is only required for agreements or arrangements with foreign powers, or those acting on behalf of foreign powers, that are specified by the UK government. In other words, the enhanced tier has a higher threshold for registration and will only be required in cases where a foreign power has been designated as such under the FIRS. At the time of writing, the UK has announced that Iran7 and Russia8 (and certain of their respective controlled entities) will be placed on the enhanced tier. While there had been some speculation that China would be included in the enhanced tier, the UK government has not yet made any such announcement.
The UK government can also place on the enhanced tier any foreign power, or any entity that it believes is controlled by a foreign power, when the government considers it reasonably necessary to do so to protect UK national security interests. The National Security Act 2023 sets out the conditions that could indicate a foreign power controls an entity — at least one of those conditions must be satisfied for the UK government to place such entity on the enhanced tier.9
As a default, “relevant activity” for the enhanced tier includes all activities in the UK and potentially overseas but with effects in the UK. In practice, and as the guidance would suggest, this is intended to capture most activities. There are certain exceptions to this, including, for example, receiving scholarships to fund education, participating in a diplomatic mission or providing legal services to foreign powers.10 The guidance also provides that the scope of these activities may be “amended by the Secretary of State, so that arrangements with different specified foreign powers or entities require registration of different types of activities.” In the case of Iran and Russia, the UK designation does not specify what specific activities are covered, meaning the default is applicable (i.e., all activities in the UK are covered, subject to the exceptions in the National Security Act 2023).
Similar to the political influence tier, agreements or arrangements made prior to the FIRS coming into force and completed by 1 July 2025 do not need to be registered. Ongoing agreements and arrangements entered into before the FIRS comes into effect and continuing thereafter must be registered by 1 October 2025. However, the key difference for the enhanced tier is that any new agreements or arrangements that are within scope and are entered into after the FIRS comes into force must be registered within 10 days from the date on which the agreement or arrangement was made, and prior to any activities pursuant to the arrangement being carried out.
FIRS Guidance
The guidance issued on 1 April 2025 provides useful information regarding the criteria for both registration tiers. In broad terms, the guidance covers the requirements for each tier; timing on registration; who bears the obligation to register; information required at registration; exemptions, offences and penalties; as well as examples of activities that qualify for registration under the FIRS.
The UK government has also issued guidance for specific industries and sectors, such as academia and research, charities and civil society, defence and security, and media and business.11 These sector-specific guidelines provide additional information for entities considering FIRS obligations for their activities.
For example, the guidance for businesses provides colour on common scenarios faced by companies that would or would not require registration under the FIRS12:
- If a foreign government entity enters into a contract with a UK lobby firm which requires the lobby firm to contact UK government ministers to encourage the government to reverse a policy decision, the lobby firm would need to register under the political influence tier.
- An overseas company, acting independently of any foreign power, writes to a UK government minister outlining issues posed by UK regulations related to its business and making suggestions regarding how the law could be improved. The company would not be required to register under the FIRS — while its activities could constitute political influence activities, it is not acting at the direction of a foreign power.
- The UK-based embassy of Russia (i.e., a country placed on the enhanced tier) signs a contract with a hotel to host an event to promote Russia to potential investors. The hotel would be required to register under the enhanced tier.
- A health-care regulator in Iran is specified under the enhanced tier. A UK pharmaceutical company signs a contract with the Iranian regulator and agrees to complete a research project on the use of a particular ingredient within medicines in the UK. The UK company would be required to register under the enhanced tier.
- A UK advertising agency signs a contract with the tourism ministry of a country placed on the enhanced tier, which requires the agency to promote the specified country as a tourist destination. The advertising agency produces an advertisement and enters into agreements with UK broadcasting and social media companies to display the advertisement. The advertising agency is required to register under the enhanced tier. The broadcasting and social media companies should check whether the agency has registered prior to displaying the advertisement.
- An overseas state-owned enterprise in country A, which is not on the enhanced tier, meets with the minister of trade from country A, who requests that the enterprise leverage contacts within the UK government to make the case for a state visit to the UK for the president of country A in return for additional funding. The CEO of the enterprise contacts the cabinet secretary outlining the benefits of a state visit. The enterprise would be required to register under the political influence tier.
- A state-owned enterprise is wholly owned, and receives funding for investments, from country B. A senior manager of the enterprise attends, without any direction from the foreign state, a conference in the UK and speaks to a UK government minister about obtaining funding from the UK for a project. While the enterprise is owned by a foreign state, the senior manager did not speak to the UK government minister at the direction of the state. Registration is therefore not required (even if the foreign state is listed on the enhanced tier).
- Sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds do not need to register under the political influence tier if certain conditions are satisfied. If those conditions are not satisfied, registration is required for political influence activities. This exception does not apply to a sovereign wealth fund of a country placed on the enhanced tier.
The examples above make clear that the focus of FIRS goes beyond simple and classic lobbying and a broad range of activities can fall within its scope.
Consequences of Non-Compliance
Non-compliance with FIRS is a criminal offence and the severity of penalties depends on the tier in which the infraction occurred. The offences include failure to register an agreement or arrangement, carrying out unregistered political influence or relevant activity for a foreign power while acting under a misrepresentation, and providing false or misleading information, among others. Under the political influence tier, offences are punishable by up to 2 years’ imprisonment and/or fines, and under the enhanced tier offences are punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or fines.13
A scheme management unit will be established within the UK government (the Home Office), which will have administrative and investigative functions. Where the Home Office considers that a criminal offence has occurred, the scheme management unit will pass relevant information on to law enforcement.
Next Steps for Companies
Any person that may be impacted by the introduction of the FIRS should use the time available before the scheme comes into force to register relevant agreements or arrangements that will continue beyond 1 July 2025. Any entities within scope of the FIRS requirements should also review policies, procedures and training materials and update those documents accordingly to ensure compliance with the FIRS. Changes to contracts may be necessary. Companies should closely assess whether their activities or interactions with foreign entities and/or governments could fall under the political influence and enhanced tiers. This assessment will not always be clear given the broad language of the FIRS.
____________________
1 National Security Act 2023, Part 4.
2 See https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-implementation.
3 This follows similar action taken in the U.S. under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The FARA was enacted in 1938 and amended in 2007, and in January 2025 the Department of Justice’s National Security Division issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to discuss possible changes to the act in issues related to exemptions, for example.
4 The UK government has published guidance on the definitions of arrangement and direction. An “arrangement” is defined as “Any type of agreement, whether formal or informal. This could include a contract, memorandum of understanding (MOU) or quid pro-quo informal agreement or arrangement.” A “direction” is defined as “an order or instruction to act to which a person is obliged or compelled, whether formally or informally, to comply,” and encompasses contracts, coercion or other type of pressure, requests where a foreign power has authority over the party, or element of control, a benefit or reimbursement (such as payment), and even “[a]n order placed by a specified foreign power or entity related to the provision of goods or services in the UK.” Note that funding is not generally understood as direction, though this may be the case if there are conditions that funds be used in a particular way. Similarly, ownership by a foreign power (e.g., state-owned enterprise) does not necessary mean that the entity is directed by a foreign power. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-political-influence-tier/guidance-on-the-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-political-influence-tier-accessible-version.
5 The Republic of Ireland is excluded from this definition. National Security Act, Section 32.
6 National Security Act, Section 70.
7 See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-specified-powers-iran/guidance-on-the-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-specified-foreign-powers-or-foreign-power-controlled-entities-iran-accessible.
8 See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-specified-powers-russia/guidance-on-the-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-specified-foreign-powers-or-foreign-power-controlled-entities-russia-accessible-version.
9 National Security Act 2023, Schedule 13.
10 National Security Act 2023, Schedule 15.
11 See https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/foreign-influence-registration-scheme.
12 See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-guidance-for-business/sector-specific-guidance-on-the-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-business-and-industry-accessible-version#section-4-common-scenarios-affecting-business-and-industry.
13 National Security Act 2023, Sections 80 and 81.
[View source.]
