The first measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate
Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act) came into force on Monday 4
March 2024.
Changes introduced today include:
- greater powers to query information and request supporting
evidence
- stronger checks on company names
- new rules for registered office addresses (all companies must
have an appropriate address at all times - they will not be able
to use a PO Box as their registered office address)
- a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email
address
- a requirement for subscribers to confirm they’re forming a
company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and for a
company to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful
on its confirmation statement
- greater powers to tackle and remove factually inaccurate
information
- the ability to share data with other government departments
and law enforcement agencies
New criminal offences and civil penalties will complement the
measures introduced today.
Our priority is cleansing the register to remove details of those
appointed without consent.
Companies House CEO Louise Smyth said:
These new and enhanced powers are the most significant change for
Companies House in our 180-year history.
We’ve known for some time that criminals have misused UK
companies to commit fraud, money laundering and other forms of
economic crime.
As we start to crack down on abuse of the register, we are
prioritising cases where people’s names and addresses have been
used without their consent. It will now be much quicker and
easier to report and remove personal information that has been
misused.
This will make a real difference to individuals.
Business Minister said:
Companies House now has the tools to take a much harder line on
criminals who take advantage of the UK’s open economy and can now
ensure the reputation of our businesses is not tarnished by the
UK playing host to the world’s scammers.
The new reforms, which come into effect today, provide further
protection to the public from companies fraudulently using their
address and will begin to remove the smoke and mirrors around
companies hiding behind false information. This will enhance the
UK’s reputation as a great and safe place to do business.
The phased roll out of new powers and requirements is designed to
minimise hassle for legitimate businesses. Many of the changes
will be integrated into existing reporting cycles, such as the
requirement to update a company’s confirmation
statement.
As further measures are introduced, we will let people who file
information with Companies House know what they need to do to via
our communications channels and campaigns.
Notes to Editors
- The Economic Crime
and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduces robust new laws to fight
corruption, money laundering and fraud.
- The act will cover the entire UK and builds on the
foundations created by the Economic Crime (Transparency and
Enforcement) Act 2022.
- A full factsheet on the
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 is
available.
- Other measures in the act, such as identity verification and
accounts reform, will be introduced over a longer period. We will
provide more information on timings on our Changes to UK company
law website.
- The ECCT Act introduced 4 new statutory objectives for the
Registrars of Companies for England and Wales, Scotland, and
Northern Ireland. The Registrars have a new duty to seek to
promote these objectives when performing their functions:
- to ensure that anyone who is required to deliver a
document to the registrar does so (and that the requirements
for proper delivery are complied with)
- to ensure information contained in the register is
accurate and that the register contains everything it ought
to contain
- to ensure that records kept by the registrar do not
create a false or misleading impression to members of the
public
- to prevent companies and others from carrying out
unlawful activities, or facilitating others to carry out
unlawful activities
- Companies House fees are set on a cost recovery basis. This
means our fees must cover the cost of the services we deliver. We
do not make a profit on our fees.
- We’re amending
our fees on 1 May 2024 to bring them in line with the costs
of providing our services, and to recover the costs of our new
powers being introduced through the Economic Crime and
Corporate Transparency Act.
