Companies House – anti-money laundering changes

Companies House have announced that from 26 June 2017, changes will be made to UK anti-money laundering measures to help prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The changes will increase the transparency of who owns and controls companies in the UK and will make changes to current requirements about people with significant control (PSC) information.Since the PSC rules were introduced in April 2016, the necessary information needed to be filed with Companies House on incorporation and updated on the confirmation statement (CS01). From 26 June, the PSC information will no longer be updated on the CS01 statement and Companies House will have to be notified on forms PSC01 to PSC09 whenever there’s a change. Companies will have 14 days to update their register and another 14 days to send the information to Companies House.Currently, the only exception to having to maintain a PSC register is for certain publicly listed companies who report under DTR5. From 26 June, these exemptions will change and companies that report under DTR5 may need to provide PSC information. Companies that are traded on an EEA or Schedule 1 specified market remain exempt. Companies that are no longer exempt will need to submit PSC information to Companies House when changes take place.There are also changes for Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLP) and General Scottish Partnerships (SP) that come into effect from 24 July 2017, and that require these bodies to provide PSC information. When SLPs and SPs provide PSC information, the protection regime becomes available to them. They can apply for a restriction so their information isn’t disclosed on the public register.