Companies House starts rolling out new powers to tackle fraud

Companies House has started the phased roll out of its new powers to tackle fraud and improve the quality and reliability of its data.

The new powers are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023.

It aims to tackle economic crime, including fraud and money laundering, as well as the financing of terrorist activities. It’s aimed mainly at foreign owned organisations but also impacts British based companies.

Some of the changes that came into effect on 4 March include:

• greater powers for Companies House to query information and request supporting evidence
• stronger checks on company names
• new rules for registered office addresses (all companies must have an appropriate address at all times – they will not be able to use a PO Box as their registered office address)
• a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address
• a requirement for subscribers to confirm they’re forming a company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and for a company to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful on its confirmation statement
• greater powers to tackle and remove factually inaccurate information
• the ability to share data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies.

Companies House CEO Louise Smyth said: “These new and enhanced powers are the most significant change for Companies House in our 180-year history.

“We’ve known for some time that criminals have misused UK companies to commit fraud, money laundering and other forms of economic crime.

“As we start to crack down on abuse of the register, we are prioritising cases where people’s names and addresses have been used without their consent. It will now be much quicker and easier to report and remove personal information that has been misused. This will make a real difference to individuals.”

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Companies House now has the tools to take a much harder line on criminals who take advantage of the UK’s open economy and can now ensure the reputation of our businesses is not tarnished by the UK playing host to the world’s scammers.

“The new reforms provide further protection to the public from companies fraudulently using their address and will begin to remove the smoke and mirrors around companies hiding behind false information.

“The phased roll out of new powers and requirements is designed to minimise hassle for legitimate businesses. Many of the changes will be integrated into existing reporting cycles, such as the requirement to update a company’s confirmation statement.

“As further measures are introduced, we will let people who file information with Companies House know what they need to do via our communications channels and campaigns.”

We shall keep clients informed of developments.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of company law.