On March 4, 2024, Companies House will commence the implementation of significant changes to UK company law, as mandated by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. These reforms aim to enhance transparency, combat economic crime, and foster GDP growth.
This article offers insights into the forthcoming alterations to UK company law, detailing their expected commencement dates and potential implications for your limited company or partnership.
What you need to know
The initial provisions outlined in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act encompass:
- Enhanced authority to scrutinize information and demand corroborating evidence
- Strengthened scrutiny of company names
- Revised regulations concerning registered office addresses
- Mandatory provision of a registered email address for all companies
- Mandatory confirmation from companies upon incorporation, affirming their lawful purpose and intended activities on future confirmation statements
- Authorization to annotate the register in cases of ambiguous or misleading information
- Implementation of data-matching techniques to rectify inaccurate entries in the register
- Facilitation of data-sharing initiatives with other governmental bodies and law enforcement agencies
Further measures outlined in the act, such as identity verification protocols, will be introduced at a later stage.