On 12 August 2024, Companies House published Business Plan: 2024-25, which outlines how it intends to progress during the next year towards the strategic goals set out in Companies House Strategy 2020-25 (see FC Feature 29 September 2020).
In October 2023, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) received Royal Assent (see FC Feature 26 October 2023), introducing a broad package of measures to tackle economic crime more effectively, including fundamental reforms to expand the role and powers of the registrar of companies and to modernise Companies House operations. Companies House will focus this year on delivering the new legislation and enhanced powers and on ensuring the promotion of the registrars' new objectives (see FC Overview 9 November 2023).
Areas of focus for Companies House in 2024-25 include those set out below.
- Taking action to improve the accuracy of company registers – Companies House will:
- prioritise the cleaning up of the registers by identifying and removing information it knows to be inaccurate;
- proactively use its new powers to ensure companies on the register have a legitimate address, taking action against identity and address theft;
- use its new and enhanced powers to query and reject information submitted to it where it is clear the information is false, misleading or suspicious;
- expedite the process of striking off companies, enabling the registrar to act more quickly where there is evidence of fraudulent information; and
- develop processes that enable the suppression of personal information from the register.
- Preparing for identity verification and ACSPs – this year, Companies House will introduce a registration process for third party agents to become authorised corporate service providers. It will also prepare for the introduction of identity verification, developing the required changes to its systems and services. By the end of March 2025, Companies House expects to have introduced the technical capability to verify an individual's identity.
- Combatting economic crime through analysis and intelligence – during 2024-25, Companies House expects to establish further relationships and agreements with a range of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to share data and intelligence, enabling a multi-agency disruption approach to tackling economic crime. In particular, Companies House will work with overseas company registers and HM Land Registry to identify those on the register of overseas entities that have failed to comply with their obligations.
- Adoption of digital services – throughout the year, Companies House will be focusing on the continued development and roll out of new services as it starts to implement the changes brought in under ECCTA 2023. In addition, Companies House will work with customers and software vendors to assist them with preparing for future mandatory digital filing of financial accounts.
For further information about Companies House and the role of the registrar generally, see Companies House and the registrar.
First published on the Corporate News Service on 12 August 2024.
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