​Under the Companies Act, companies and LLPs are required to maintain certain information in their company registers. What are company registers? Well, they're a recording of certain information relating to the company such as directors, secretaries, shareholders and any charges on the company.
And every year companies and LLPs had to file an annual return with Companies House confirming the information in these registers as follows:
- ​Company name and number
- SIC (Standard Industry Classification) Code
- Company type
- Registerd office
- Officer details - directors and company secretary (if applicable)
- Statement of capital - number and class of shares
- Shareholder details
However from 30th June 2016 the annual return is being replaced by an annual confirmation statement.
So what's the difference?
Well, most of the information included in the confirmation statement is the same as the annual return. However there's a new requirement for companies and LLPs to keep a new register called 'Persons of Significant Control' (PSC).
So what's a 'person of signficant control'?
Well a PSC is anyone in a company, LLP or SE who meets one or more of the conditions listed in the legislation. This is someone who:
- ​owns more than 25% of the company’s shares
- holds more than 25% of the company’s voting rights
- holds the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors
- has the right to, or actually exercises significant influence or control
- holds the right to exercise or actually exercises significant control over a trust or company that meets one of the first 4 conditions.
This change in requirements is mainly aimed at larger businesses. For most owner managed businesses, the PSCs will be the directors and/or shareholders - so there won't be much change in what is being disclosed - it's just a different type of return.
New businesses being incorporated will also need to supply this information as part of the incorporation process.
Although the change comes in from 30th June, you need to keep a note of your PSCs from 6th April 2016.
And going forward, you can update your record as often as you need to - but will only need to pay one annual fee (£13 if filing online or £40 if filing by paper).
So for most of our clients, it's business as usual.
If you'd like to discuss these changes, feel free to get in touch.