New rules for Companies House reporting – Part 1

19/02/2016

Keeping a register of people with significant control

Quick read

• Companies will have to keep a register of people who have significant control over the business from 6 April 2016 and submit it to Companies House annually.
• From 30th June 2016 the Companies House ‘annual return’ is replaced by a ‘confirmation statement’.
• If you use our company secretarial services, we’ll take care of this for you.
• If you do your own company secretarial work, you will need to maintain and submit the register with your confirmation statement.

What’s changing?

From 6th April most companies and limited liability partnerships need to keep a register of people with significant control (PSC). From 30th June 2016, they need to file this information at Companies House as part of the new ‘confirmation statement’ which replaces the annual return.

The PSC register identifies the ultimate beneficial owners and controllers of the organisation and provides details of their holdings. This information will be made public via Companies House as part of the government’s efforts to improve company transparency, reduce tax evasion and curb crime. It is one of a number of measures contained in the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.

A PSC is anyone in a company or limited liability partnership (LLP) who meets one or more of the following conditions:

• owns more than 25% of the company’s shares
• holds more than 25% of the company’s voting rights
• holds the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors
• otherwise has the right to exercise, or actually exercises significant influence or control
• holds the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the activities of a trust or firm (which is not a legal entity) which has significant control (under one of the four conditions above) over the company.

The following details about the PSC will be held on the PSC Register:

• name
• date of birth (only the month and year will made public)
• nationality
• country, state or part of UK where the PSC usually lives
• service address
• usual residential address (not made public)
• date individual became a PSC in relation to the company
• which of the five conditions for being a PSC the individual meets

Any companies or LLPs that incorporate after 30 June 2016 will have to include a statement of initial significant control in their application to Companies House.

How this affects you

If you use our company secretarial service, we will compile and file the PSC Register with your confirmation statement.
Companies that don’t outsource their company secretarial work must maintain their own PSC Register and file it with their confirmation statement via the Companies House website. They will release more information on how to do this nearer the time.

For help and advice on your company’s PSC Register, please contact Jackie Broadfoot