Company Secretarial Services

Companies House is introducing mandatory identity verification for directors, People with Significant Control (PSCs), and those filing on behalf of companies, as part of wider efforts to strengthen corporate transparency.

With a transition period underway from November 2025 and further enforcement from November 2026, individuals must verify their identity to act for a company. Businesses will also need to ensure records are accurate and processes are robust, as scrutiny increases.

These changes mark a shift towards greater accountability, making proactive compliance more important than ever.

Companies House has recently sent an e-mail to all registered e-mail addresses that they hold on their records regarding an issue with its WebFiling service. While the issue has now been resolved and was not the result of a cyber-attack, it is important that businesses are aware of what happened and take a moment to review their company records as a precaution.

From 18 November 2025, mandatory identify verification with Companies House for all company directors and persons of significant control (PSCs) on incorporation and appointment will be legally required. This forms part of new anti-fraud legislation introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA), aimed at improving corporate transparency and reducing financial crime.

From 4 March 2024, there’ll be new rules for registered office addresses which mean companies must have an ‘appropriate address’ as their registered office at all times. An appropriate address is one where: any documents sent to the registered office should be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company; any documents sent to that address c ...

Company Directors need to be prepared for a huge change in corporate responsibility due to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, this is a landmark piece of legislation with many implications for UK businesses. One significant change that Companies House will be introducing will be ‘Identity Verification’ for individuals setting up and managing companies with new ...