Economic crime and corporate transparency

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and is currently being brought into force over a series of commencement dates. For information on when the key provisions of ECCTA 2023 are expected to come into force, see Practice Note: Implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

ECCTA 2023 seeks to deliver a wide range of reforms to increase transparency in relation to a company’s structure and management and to improve the integrity of the information held at Companies House. These include the introduction of:

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statutory objectives for the Registrar of Companies, which are aimed at reframing the role of Companies House from one of ‘record-keeper’ to ‘gatekeeper’
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requirements relating to identity verification, so that directors, people with significant control (PSCs) and anyone filing a document at Companies

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