The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) (‘The Act’) will reform the role of Companies House and improve transparency over UK companies and other legal entities to strengthen our business environment, support our national security and disrupt economic crime, while delivering a more reliable companies register to underpin business activity. This legislation brings Companies House and our legal framework into line with modern day challenges.
The Act introduces the biggest changes to Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844 and will enable us to play a much stronger role in making the UK a great place to do business.
The Act gives Companies House the power to play a more significant role in disrupting economic crime and supporting economic growth. Over time, the measures will lead to improved transparency and more accurate and trusted information on our registers.
There’ll be new responsibilities for:
all new and existing company directors
people with significant control of a company (PSCs)
anyone who files information on behalf of a company
This is a large and complex set of changes which will be introduced in phases over the coming years.
This is the current intended timetable:
From 4 March 2024
Companies House has been able to improve the quality of information on the register by:
querying and rejecting new information received in customer filings which we suspect to be wrong or fraudulent
removing more inaccurate information from the register, including removing names and addresses of citizens which have been used without consent – the processes for removing information are being streamlined and more information can be removed administratively, without people needing a court order
querying and rejecting company names which have been chosen to mislead customers, facilitate fraud, or give the false impression that the company is connected to a foreign government
improving the accuracy and reliability of registered office addresses by introducing a new definition for an appropriate address (companies are not able to use a Royal Mail PO Box and equivalent services offered by other parties) – we will be able to commence strike off measures against companies if they do not provide an appropriate address within a specified period
Companies House has been able to improve investigation, enforcement and data sharing by:
sharing more information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to help tackle money laundering, fraud and other criminality
undertaking greater analysis of information held, including comparison against other data sets obtained externally
Companies House has been able to better prevent disqualified directors from acting by:
rejecting documents notifying appointment of a new director to an existing company where the individual is a disqualified director
Companies House has also been able to require companies to:
provide a registered email address to allow Companies House to contact companies about matters relating to their filing quickly and efficiently (this email address will not be shared on the public register)
confirm that the future activities of the company are lawful at the point of incorporation, and to confirm this every year on the confirmation statement
From 1 May 2024
Companies House has been able to:
charge higher incorporation and annual fees to fund investigation and enforcement activities against those misusing the register
From October 2024
Companies House has been able to:
issue financial penalties for any relevant offences under the new Act and the Companies Act
From 27 January 2025
Companies House should be able to:
receive and assess applications from individuals seeking to have residential addresses suppressed from public disclosure where they’ve been used as a registered office address
From 25 February 2025
Companies House should be able to:
expedite the striking off of companies where the registrar has concluded the company has been formed for a false basis
carry out checks on Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) to authorise them to carry out verification services – ACSPs will need to be registered in the UK and subject to the UK’s anti-money laundering regime
From 25 March 2025
Companies House should be able to:
allow individuals to voluntarily verify their identity
By summer 2025
Companies House should be able to:
allow access on request to certain trust information on the Register of Overseas Entities
receive and assess applications from individuals seeking to suppress their day of birth for documents registered before 10 March 2015, signature, business occupation, and residential address in most other instances
By autumn 2025
Companies House should be able to:
make identity verification a compulsory part of incorporation and new appointments for new directors and PSCs
begin the 12-month transition phase to require more than 7 million existing directors and PSCs to verify their identity – the identity verification will happen as part of the annual confirmation statement filing
By spring 2026
Companies House should be able to:
make identity verification of the presenters a compulsory part of filing any document
require third party agents filing on behalf of companies to be registered as an ACSP
reject documents delivered by disqualified directors as they will be prohibited from doing so, unless they are delivered by an ACSP for specified filings permitted by law
By the end of 2026
Companies House should be able to:
require all limited partnerships to submit more information, providing greater transparency for users of the register
complete the transition period for all individuals on the register requiring identity verification, and start compliance activity against those who have failed to verify their identity
facilitate greater cross-checking of information and data between Companies House and other public and private sector bodies
Please get in touch with a member of our team if you have any questions or concerns.
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