Get in touch
To contact us, please fill out this form and we will get back in touch as soon as possible. Your personal data will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found here.
The new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA), following on from the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, received Royal Ascent on 26 October 2023 and became law.
The ECCTA brings in stronger powers to tackle money laundering and other illicit activity to enhance the UK's reputation as a great and safe place to do business. The most significant part of the ECCTA are the monumental reforms to Companies House.The key areas are:
These new and enhanced powers are the most significant changes for Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844.
While not all the measures, such as identity verification, have been introduced straight away because they need system development and secondary legislation before they can be introduced, a number of changes came into force from March 2024.
From 4 March 2024, the following measures came into force at Companies House:
1. Greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence
Companies House will scrutinise and reject information that seems incorrect or inconsistent with information already on the register and, in some cases, they will be able to remove information.
2. Stronger checks on company names
To help improve the accuracy and quality of data, carry out stronger checks on names that may give a false or misleading impression to the public.
3. Registered office address
4. Registered email address
5. Statement of lawful purpose
6. Annotations
Annotations on the register to let users know about potential issues with the information that’s been supplied Companies House.
7. Clean the register
Remove inaccurate information by using data matching.
8. Share data with other government departments/law agencies
Companies House will be able to proactively share information with law enforcement bodies where they have evidence of anomalous filings or suspicious behaviour.
Changes to Companies House’s fees
From 1 May 2024, Companies House will be increasing their fees to help fund the new measures. Full details can be found here.
If you have any questions or would like further training on this, please contact Chloe Bristow at [javascript protected email address], who heads up our Company Secretarial and Governance team.
The information on this site about legal matters is provided as a general guide only. Although we try to ensure that all of the information on this site is accurate and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed. The information on this site should not be relied upon or construed as constituting legal advice and Howes Percival LLP disclaims liability in relation to its use. You should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from taking any action.
To contact us, please fill out this form and we will get back in touch as soon as possible. Your personal data will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found here.