Improving the quality of data on our registers
One of the key aims of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act is to improve the accuracy and quality of the data on our registers, to help tackle economic crime and drive confidence in the UK economy.
The act has introduced new statutory objectives for the Registrar of Companies which they must promote when performing their functions. The act also provides the registrar with a suite of new and enhanced powers, to enable them to meet their objectives.
The registrar’s objectives are:
- 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 the carrying out by others of unlawful activities
These objectives also apply to the Registrar of Companies for Scotland and the Registrar of Companies for Northern Ireland.
What’s changed and what this may mean for you
Registered office addresses
There are new rules for registered office addresses which mean companies must, at all times, have an ‘appropriate address’ as their registered office.
An address is an ‘appropriate address’ if, in the ordinary course of events:
- a document addressed to the company, and delivered there by hand or by post, would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company
- the delivery of documents there is capable of being recorded by the obtaining of an acknowledgement of delivery
If the company’s registered office address does not meet these requirements, this means the address is not appropriate. We may take action against the company and its officers as they’re committing an offence. If we’re satisfied a company’s registered office is not appropriate, we’ll change the registered office address to a default address, held at Companies House. If a company’s registered office is moved to the default address, they must provide an appropriate address with evidence of proprietary ownership within 28 days, or we could start the process to strike the company off the register.
If you’re using an agent’s address or another third-party provider’s address as your registered office, you must make sure the address service they provide meets the requirements for an appropriate registered office address.
You’re not able to use a Royal Mail PO Box, and equivalent services offered by other parties, as your registered office address.
Statement of lawful purpose
There’s a new requirement when you register or ‘incorporate’ a company. The subscribers to the company need to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful purpose.
A company will also need to confirm its intended future activities are lawful, on their annual confirmation statement.
Registrar’s powers
The registrar has greater powers to query and challenge information that appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information we hold. In some cases, we will remove information more quickly, if that information is inaccurate, incomplete, false or fraudulent.
There’ll be stronger checks on company names which may give a false or misleading impression to the public. This will help us improve the accuracy and quality of the data we hold and help to tackle the misuse of company names.
We’ll use annotations on the register to let users know about potential issues with the information that’s been supplied to us. We’ll also be taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information.
We’ll introduce a new identity verification process, and over the coming months, we’ll explain when these changes will come into effect.
Enforcement and sanctions
There are serious consequences if a company does not respond to a formal request from Companies House for more information. This could include:
- a financial penalty
- an annotation on the company’s record
- prosecution
Read our enforcement guidance for more information.
There could also be serious consequences for a company if their registered office is not an appropriate address.
If we’re satisfied a company’s registered office is not appropriate, we’ll change it to a default address, held at Companies House. If a company’s registered office is moved to the default address, they must provide an appropriate address with evidence of proprietary ownership within 28 days, or we could start the process to strike the company off the register.
Find out more about the registrar’s powers and how and when they work.