Companies House – implementation plan published for ECCTA

Companies House has published an outline implementation plan for the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which recaps the provisions already in force and provides further detail on its plans to implement the rest of the changes.

The ECCTA contains, among other things, amendments to the Companies Act 2006 to facilitate the transformation of Companies House from a passive recipient of information to an active gatekeeper. Its provisions are being brought into force in stages:

• for a summary of all of the changes to Companies House and the administration of companies, LLPs and limited partnerships to be made under the ECCTA, see our blog post from October 2023;
• for details of the March 2024 commencement of the provisions in the ECCTA turning Companies House into a quasi-regulator – significantly increasing its powers to query filings, to request further evidence, and to reject and remove material from the register – see our blog post from March 2024; and
• for information on the May 2024 changes, including regulations giving Companies House the power to impose civil fines and increasing Companies House’s fees, see our blog post from May 2024.

The implementation plan flags that:

• Imposing fines – by the latter part of 2024, Companies House will have implemented the systems to allow it to issue financial penalties for any relevant offences. It published guidance earlier in October on how it will exercise its new enforcement and fining powers (read more on our blog here);
• Identity verification (IDV) – by spring 2025, service providers who are registered for Anti Money Laundering with a supervisor in the UK will be able to register to become Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs). This will allow them to provide IDV services and confirm details to Companies House. By autumn 2025 Companies House will commence the new requirements where all directors and PSCs for new incorporations will be required to verify their identity at the point of incorporation. There will then be a transition period of 12 months for existing companies, who will be required to do IDV for their directors and PSCs when their next confirmation statement is due. From spring 2026, IDV will be compulsory for anyone filing a document at Companies House;
• Limited partnerships – reforms to limited partnerships will take place no sooner than spring 2026;
• Mandating electronic filing – Companies House will require all accounts to be delivered to it via software, following an extensive formal notice period. It is not in a position to announce the commencement of the formal notice period yet due to the complexity of the changes; and
• Other provisions – Companies House is not currently able to set a firm timetable for implementation of the remaining ECCTA measures as some require secondary legislation. Around 50 statutory instruments will be commenced over 18 months with implementation activity and transitional periods continuing until 2027. Timelines are dependent on suitable Parliamentary time in both houses and will be kept under review.