Companies House claims new powers are yielding “real-world impact”

UK Companies House issued a report on 30 June setting out its progress in implementing changes introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) 2023, which were designed to transform the agency from a passive register into an active gatekeeper to combat economic crime and improve the quality of register data.

Companies House said that, using its new powers to query and remove false, misleading or incorrect information from the registers, it had challenged 100,400 companies between 4 March 2024 and 3 March 2025 in respect of:

• 82,600 registered office addresses.
• 66,900 officer addresses.
• 55,100 People with Significant Control (PSC) addresses.
• 49,800 incorporation documents.
• 11,200 additional documents from the register.

It had also worked with data partners, to identify companies with potentially deceased individuals on their records, which could be a result of companies failing to keep their records up to date but could also signal a more serious attempt to mislead.

To better understand which measures prove effective in detecting and preventing misuse of the register, Companies House said it had trialled various interventions. This had led to the rejection of 10,200 suspicious applications, including where evidence had suggested addresses were inappropriate.

It has also started pilot work to use the new financial penalties regime to drive compliance, focusing initially on the most serious late filers of the annual confirmation statement. Companies House said it had issued 419 penalty warning notices and 192 penalty notices, of which 48 entities had complied and 12 penalties had been paid. A further 33 companies had opted for voluntary dissolution, while 78 had changed their addresses to the default address prior to being struck off.

Companies House said the capability and capacity of its Intelligence Hub had continued to grow over the period, with increased use of the new data sharing powers to make about 600 intelligence referrals to relevant intelligence to key partners, including the National Crime Agency, HMRC, the Insolvency Service and policing in the UK.

In respect of the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE), which was introduced under the Economic Crime (Transparency & Enforcement) Act 2022 (ECTEA) to increase transparency and identify the beneficial owners of overseas entities (OEs) that own property or land in the UK, Companies House said 30,400 entities had registered as of 4 March and it had been searched more than 2.8 million times.

Companies House said it continued to scrutinise information on the register, working in partnership with the UK Land Registries and other agencies to identify those that have failed to comply with their obligations. OEs that had not registered with Companies House, or had failed to comply with the updating duty, now face restrictions on selling, transferring, leasing or raising charges against their property or land. OEs also cannot buy any new UK property or land without an Overseas Entity ID.

To increase transparency on the ROE, Companies House implemented a digital removal service in April 2024 allowing OEs to apply for deregistration if they had disposed of all their UK property. Since launching the removal service, 1,500 entities had been removed.

Companies House is currently implementing Section.174 of the ECCTA, which will require OEs to provide details in their next annual update statement on individuals that had previously been beneficial owners and had ceased their involvement after the ECTEA was announced but before the OE registered on the ROE. This, it said, will disclose details on beneficial owners in circumstances where OEs used the period before registration to change their ownership structure.

The Insolvency Service’s close collaboration with Companies House had also delivered positive results in the fight against economic crime, with joint efforts identifying thousands of suspicious companies and millions in criminal assets, including:

• Interventions by law enforcement partners at 16 sites, against over 30 entities which had incorporated 30,000 to 50,000 companies involved in illicit activities. The process to remove around 10,000 of these companies from the company register had been commenced.
• Identification of around £50 million in UK property related to companies owned by organised criminals, by the Insolvency Service intelligence teams, which is subject to ongoing asset recovery investigations,
• Analysis of over 100,000 shell companies incorporated over the last 20 years, known to be involved in illicit activities including online gambling fraud, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment frauds, proliferation financing and cybercrime. Investigations have begun into a number of these companies with a view to winding them up in the public interest or referring them to Companies House for dissolution.
• Development of closer enforcement opportunities to tackle company directors who fail to comply with a disqualification order.

The Department for Business and Trade and Companies House will continue to work together to lay the secondary legislation required to enact the relevant ECCTA provisions.

By summer 2025, Companies House anticipates being able to allow access on request to certain trust information on the Register of Overseas Entities and receive and assess applications from individuals seeking to suppress their day of birth for documents registered before 10 March 2015, signature, business occupation, and residential address in most other instances.

By autumn 2025, Companies House anticipates being able to make identity verification a compulsory part of incorporation and new appointments for new directors and PSCs. It will begin the 12-month transition phase to require more than 7 million existing directors and PSCs to verify their identity, which will happen as part of the annual confirmation statement filing.

By spring 2026, Companies House anticipates being able to make identity verification of the presenters a compulsory part of filing any document, to require third party agents filing on behalf of companies to be registered as an ACSP and to reject documents delivered by disqualified directors unless they are delivered by an ACSP for specified filings permitted by law.

By the end of 2026, Companies House anticipates being able to require all limited partnerships to submit more information and to complete the transition period for all individuals on the register requiring identity verification and start compliance activity against those who have failed to verify their identity. It will also be able to facilitate greater cross-checking of information and data between Companies House and other public and private sector bodies.

“Our latest report demonstrates how we’re strengthening the UK’s business environment by taking direct action against those misusing corporate structures, while improving the accuracy and reliability of our register for legitimate businesses,” said Companies House chief executive Louise Smyth.

“Our new intelligence capabilities have now already facilitated approximately 850 intelligence reports to law enforcement partners, while our risk-based approach targets resources where they’ll have the greatest impact on economic crime.

“As we prepare for the next phase of implementation, including mandatory identity verification by autumn 2025, we remain committed to creating a transparent company register that supports economic growth while making the UK a hostile environment for those looking to commit economic crime,” she added.