Authorised Corporate Service Providers
Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) are individuals or organisations that undertake anti-money laundering (AML) supervised activity, such as:
- company formation agents
- solicitors
- accountants
All third-party providers will need to register their business as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) before they can continue to submit information on behalf of clients.
Becoming an ACSP
To become an ACSP, agents must be supervised within the UK by one of the relevant Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisory bodies, such as:
- HMRC
- Financial Conduct Authority
- The Insolvency Practitioners Association
There are 25 supervisory bodies in the UK in total. You can find a full list of supervisory bodies on GOV.UK.
Registering as an ACSP with Companies House
If you hold a senior role within the business, such as a director or sole trader, you’ll need to complete a registration process to register your business as an ACSP. You’ll be asked to complete identity verification as part of the application and provide information about the business.
Once registered, you’ll be provided with a new digital account and unique identity number. This will allow you to file information and complete identity verification for your clients.
The person registering the business as an ACSP can add other people who work for the business to the ACSP account once it’s registered and approved.
If you’re an agent, you do not need to do anything yet. We’ll announce when the registration service will launch in advance to give you plenty of time to prepare. We’ll also publish guidance on GOV.UK to help you with your responsibilities.
Read our blog post to find out more information about ACSPs.