Company administration – Companies House launches ACSP registration and confirms new start date for identity verification

Companies House has launched its new service through which parties can apply to be an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP). It has also announced that from 8 April 2025 individuals will be able to voluntarily verify their identity, before identity verification (IDV) becomes mandatory later this year.

As part of the measures being introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) to improve transparency and trust in the public register, third-party service providers wishing to submit information to Companies House on behalf of companies will need to be registered with Companies House as ACSPs. ACSPs will also be able to verify people's identity for the purposes of the new IDV requirements being introduced by the ECCTA for all new and existing company directors (and equivalents for other entities), PSCs and those filing information with Companies House.

The ECCTA itself is light on the detail of how the IDV requirements will operate in practice. These details were set out in The Registrar (Identity Verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers) Regulations 2025, made in January 2025, which include provisions giving Companies House the power to make more detailed rules on IDV. In February 2025, Companies House published three sets of rules which detail:

• the process for verifying identity directly with Companies House;
• the process for verifying identity via an ACSP; and
• the process for applying to register as an ACSP.

Companies House has also published guidance on the new ACSP and IDV requirements:

• verifying your identity for Companies House;
• when you need to verify your identity for Companies House;
• applying to register as a Companies House authorised agent; and
• being an Authorised Corporate Service Provider.

Broadly speaking, individuals will be able to verify their identity online directly with Companies House (using for example a biometric passport or driving licence), in person at a Post Office, or via a registered ACSP.

For more detail on the IDV requirements in the ECCTA, see our snapshot here.