First Changes to UK Company Law Expected on 4th March

Published on 13^th February 2024

Companies House is aiming to introduce the first set of measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act on 4 March 2024.

The Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act gives Companies House the power to play a more significant role in disrupting economic crime and supporting economic growth.

What will change?

The first set of changes introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act includes:

1. Greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence.

2. Stronger checks on company names.

3. New rules for registered office addresses.

4. A requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address.

5. A requirement for all companies to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful on their confirmation statement.

6. The ability to annotate the register when information appears confusing or misleading.

7. Taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information.

8. Sharing data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies.

Emma Reilly FCICM, CEO at Top Service Ltd commented “The construction industry is facing an ongoing battle with identifying potential fraudulent activity, particularly when opening trade credit accounts. The changes being introduced in March are welcomed in both the construction industry & credit management industry overall. This overhaul is well overdue in my opinion & I look forward to further clarification about the future planned changes including Director ID verification checks”.