Companies house issues new timetable issued for commencement of UK economic crime Act measures

The Act introduces the biggest changes to Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844 and will give Companies House powers to play a much stronger regulatory role, especially in ensuring the accuracy and completeness of information on its registers.

However, the Act contains so many measures that it is having to be implemented piecemeal. Some of its measures require secondary legislation, so that in practice the timings will depend on parliamentary time being made available to approve statutory instruments in both houses. About 50 statutory instruments (SIs) will be commenced over 18 months, with implementation activity and transitional periods continuing until completion in 2027. The most recent new regulations gave Companies House powers to issue financial penalties for any relevant offences under the new Act and the Companies Act 2006.

The next step will come during in the last months of 2024 and beginning of 2025, with the ability to expedite the striking off of companies where the registrar has concluded the company has been formed for a false basis. It should also be able to annotate the register in a wider range of circumstances, such as when a company has a director who has been disqualified but has yet to terminate their appointment on the register; or where Companies House has issued a statutory notice to require more information from a person but the matter remains unresolved.

Development of the necessary information systems is also a determinant of the timetable. Identity verification is a major component of the reforms. It involves significant system development for the more than 7 million individuals who will go through these checks, says Companies House.

In the first quarter of 2025, Companies House expects to make the first step in this project by allowing trust and company service providers, as well as other professional service providers such as accountants and solicitors who are registered for anti-money laundering (AML) supervision, to register to become authorised corporate service providers (ACSPs). This will allow them to carry out verification services for their clients and provide these details to the registrars. ACSPs will have to be registered in the UK and be subject to the UK's AML regime.

Companies House should then also be able to process applications from individuals seeking to have their residential addresses suppressed from public disclosure. Access on request to trust information on the register of overseas entities should become possible by mid-2025.

It expects to commence the new compulsory identity verification procedures in late 2025, with all directors and persons of significant control (PSCs) for new incorporations being required to verify their identity at the point of incorporation. There will be a transition period of 12 months for existing companies, who will be required to provide identity verification credentials for their directors and PSCs when their confirmation statement is due. Companies House expects to make identity verification of the presenters a compulsory part of filing any document by early 2026. Third-party agents filing on behalf of companies will have to be registered as an ACSP. Disqualified directors will be prohibited from delivering documents except for specified filings permitted by law.

Reforms to limited partnerships will take place 2026 at the earliest. Company ownership will be made even more transparent by the publication of more information on shareholders. Companies House acknowledges this will be a significant undertaking for some companies and it is currently working through the implementation options. 'The changes are technically and operationally complex and many require ongoing collaboration from expert stakeholders', it says. By the end of 2026, it hopes to 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.

Sources

• Companies House
• STEP UK News 18 April 2024: Overseas entities can now apply to be removed from UK register
• STEP UK News 8 January 2024: UK government consultation begins on wider access to information on trusts that own land