PSC Register: All you need to know about the upcoming changes

Monday 12 June 2017

What is the PSC register?

Since 6 April 2016, all UK companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP’s) have been required to keep a register of any ‘persons with significant control’ (PSC) of the company or LLP.

Current requirements

PSC information must be delivered to Companies House:

• upon the incorporation of a company; and
• each year as part of a company’s confirmation statement.

Under the current regulations, a company is only required to notify Companies House of any changes to the PSC information when the confirmation statement is filed, i.e. once a year. This means that until the confirmation statement is filed, the information on the PSC register may be inaccurate, therefore in contradiction to the reason why the PSC register was created in the first place.

Study by Global Witness

Global Witness, in collaboration with other organisations, conducted a study into the PSC register. Analysis of the data collected identified some worrying results, the most significant of which are as follows:

• almost 3,000 companies had beneficial owners with a ‘tax haven’ address;
• 267 disqualified directors were registered as PSCs;
• up to 76 people appearing on the US Sanctions List were listed as PSCs; and
• there was a major lack of consistency with regard to data input – ‘British’ was inputted over 500 different ways.

The study highlights that whilst the notion of the PSC register desirable, the practical workings of it require attention. See here for more information on the study.

Proposed changes

In order to address the concerns highlighted by the Global Witness study, the following changes will take effect on 26 June 2017:

• any changes to PSC information must update on the registers held by the company or LLP within 14 days, at notified to Companies House within 28 days;
• the type of company/entity required to submit PSC information will diversify. This is likely to include AIM and ISDX companies (although proposed new regulations are yet to be made public); and
• Forms PSC01 to PSC09 must be used to update the PSC information.

Companies House also stated that it intends to undertake new work to improve the accuracy and completeness of PSC data it receives.

If you require any assistance in updating your PSC register, then please contact our Corporate and Commercial Team.