Companies House has announced that the first set of UK company law changes will be introduced on 4 March 2024, following the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act becoming law in October.

The new changes, described as the “most significant changes” in Companies House’s history, aim to improve the transparency of the register and tackle abuse of the register, such as companies set up to commit fraudulent activities.

Changes to registered addresses

Going forward, companies must have an appropriate and valid address as their registered address. This means that any document sent to this address should come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company, and documents would be recorded by an acknowledgement of delivery.

PO Box Addresses

Companies will no longer be able to use a PO Box address as their registered address, but they can still use a third-party agent’s address, provided it meets the new requirements. Companies that are still using a PO Box address must change their address by the 4th of March.

Failure to do so could result in the company being struck off the register. If a company is identified as having an inappropriate address, Companies House will change their current address to a default one initially, giving the company 28 days to change to an appropriate one, otherwise the registrar will start the striking-off process.

Registered Email Addresses

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In addition, all companies are now required to supply a registered email address. This information will not be available on the public register, but from 4th March, newly-incorporated companies must provide a registered email address, while existing companies must provide a registered email when they next submit a confirmation statement from 5th March onwards.

Querying Information

Member of human resource team talking with a candidate while reviewing his resume during job interview in the office.

Companies House will be granted greater powers to query information, request supporting evidence, and undertake stronger checks on company names. This comes after a longstanding problem of fraudulent companies being set up with owners named Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Adolf Hitler previously waved through.

The aim of these new rules is to equip Companies House with more quality data, and take the first steps to cleaning up the register by identifying and removing inaccurate information through data-matching. By having a more reliable source of information on the owners behind them, Companies House will be able to share data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, the bill empowers Companies House with the ability to annotate the register when information appears confusing or misleading.

Filing

While the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act brings many changes to Companies House, the requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a full profit and loss account, which will then be available on the public register, is not currently included in the list of new measures. Further information on this aspect of the bill will be released after secondary legislation and the finalisation of the implementation programme.

Companies House has stated that the act will be implemented in phases, with the timing of certain measures dependent on a number of factors, including the delivery of the necessary secondary legislation programme. The changes to small companies and micro-entities filing are tentatively planned to come into force in 2026.