Additional Reporting Requirements for PSC

Companies Aug 7, 2017

From the 26th of June onward information on people with significant control (PSC) won't be updated on the confirmation statement (form CS01) on a yearly basis anymore. Instead, one needs to inform Companies House using new forms (forms PSC01 to PSC09) whenever there’s a change.

You have 14 days to update your PSC register and another 14 days to send the information to Companies House. Companies House will need to be informed if anyone (or any entity):

becomes a PSC
ceases to be a PSC; or
their details change, such as the extent of their control or their address.

This will make the requirements for PSCs very like those of company officers, where changes to a director or secretary have been filed on an event-driven basis for some time. This update to the information required about PSCs arose due to a change in anti-money laundering legislation; the spirit of which is aimed at increasing the transparency of ownership and control of companies in the UK and ensuring the information is more current.

The PSC reporting requirements originally came into force on 6th April 2016 and require a register to be maintained listing people who have ‘significant control’ over a company or Limited Liability Partnership. Typically, a PSC is an individual who directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights in a company. However, there are other circumstances that may lead to an individual being defined as a PSC.

It is crucial to notify Companies House in good time of any alterations to people with significant control as these rules are legal duties and those failing to comply could be committing a criminal offence and could be fined and/or imprisoned.