William Cook
Dispute Resolution
Companies House Enhanced Powers
In 2024 Companies House was granted enhanced powers under The Economic Crime and Transparency Act (‘ECCT’).
The new powers will be implemented over a few years in a phased implementation.
One of the reasons for these new powers is to enhance the quality and reliability of the data Companies House hold on companies and their officers, and to tackle misuse of the companies register in the fight against economic crime.
The first measures under the Act which came into force in March 2024 include:
- greater powers 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
Further powers are to be implemented from Spring 2025 including:
- The phased introduction of identity verification for anyone setting up, owning or controlling a company in the UK.
- Greater powers for individuals to suppress their personal information from historic documents.
With some further powers to be implemented in 2026.
At the moment, for information to be removed from the companies register, often a court application will be required, with the implementation of these new powers Companies House may be able to address some of these requests themselves without the need for a court order.
Holly Minney, Head of Dispute Resolution at Mullis & Peake, said:
“If you require information contained on the register to be removed or amended our team will be able to assist you with the court application where necessary. The granting of these new powers to Companies House will hopefully help reduce criminal ability to hide behind companies to carry out their activities. The powers will also assist where filing errors have been made and will reduce the need for court applications to be made.”