Companies House business reforms - green light for March 2024

Posted: 15/03/2024

Following our previous article on the initial phase of Companies House reforms, secondary legislation has recently been published confirming that various measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 have come into force from 4 March 2024.

Changes include:

• greater powers, enabling the Registrar to:
  • query, reject and remove information that seems incorrect or inconsistent with information already on the register;
  • undertake stronger checks on company names;
  • annotate the public register to let users know about potential issues with the information that has been supplied; and
  • share data with partners, such as law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies;

• new rules, including requirements for:
  • corporate entities to supply an appropriate registered email address and to have an appropriate registered office address. Businesses will no longer be able to use a PO Box as their registered office address; and
  • those forming a company, to confirm they are doing so for a lawful purpose when they incorporate. Every year, a company (or LLP) will need to confirm via their confirmation statement that their future activities will be lawful.

Separately, Companies House has confirmed a range of increases to its fees, effective from 1 May 2024.

Click here for our updated guide to the key reforms and how businesses can prepare.

Companies House has launched a new website outlining the reforms (click here). A range of factsheets has also been published (available here). If you have any concerns about the incoming reforms or would like to discuss their impact in more detail, please contact our specialist corporate team.

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