The New Companies House Confirmation Statement
Aug. 25, 2016, 1:46pmYou may have heard that the Companies House Annual Return is being replaced? The annual confirmation statement is a new filing requirement that was introduced on 30th June 2016. It has replaced the annual return (Companies House form AR01) but serves exactly the same purpose in a simplified format.
All private limited companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) registered in the United Kingdom must deliver at a confirmation statement to Companies House at least once every 12 months, even if the business is dormant.
Every company must confirm the information Companies House holds about it is correct by delivering a confirmation statement. If the information Companies House holds is out of date the company must file the information needed to update its records before, or at the same time that it delivers the confirmation statement. This statement must be made at least once a year, but the company may choose to make a statement more regularly.
When making a confirmation statement, you must notify Companies House of changes to the company’s registered office, company’s directors (appointments, terminations of appointments, and director’s details – e.g. service address, surname, etc.), company’s secretary (appointments, terminations of appointments, and secretary’s details – e.g. service address, surname, etc.),location of the company’s registers (i.e. whether they are kept at the company’s registered office or at a single alternative inspection location (SAIL). If you have forgotten to tell us about any changes to this information you must notify us by completing the usual form at the same time as you send the confirmation statement.
If there’s been a change to the following information during the confirmation period covered by your confirmation statement you must give Companies House notice by providing the updated information with your confirmation statement; the company’s SIC code, a change to the matters included in the company’s last statement of capital, a change in the shareholders’ information, a change in the information in your company People with Significant Control (PSC) register (a copy of this information must be provided in its entirety the first time you file a confirmation statement – see below).
A private company which has elected to keep information found in one or more of its company registers on the public record at Companies House also needs to ensure it has notified the Registrar of any changes to that information concerning; its members, the company’s director’s and their details, the director’s usual residential addresses, the company’s secretary and their details, the company’s PSCs and their details.
With the exception of the PSC register, a significant proportion of the above will not be dissimilar to that under the previous AR01 Annual return. The key change relates to the PSC or People with Significant Control Register. From 6 April 2016, all companies must keep a register of PSCs. This is in addition to keeping other information, such as a register of members and a register of directors. You are required to determine who has a controlling interest in your company and put this information into your register. You’ll then need to file the information that’s in your company’s PSC register at Companies House with your confirmation statement.
There are 3 types of entity in law whose details must be entered into a company’s PSC register and companies must enter details of whichever is appropriate to them on the confirmation statement. The categories are individual, registrable relevant legal entity (RLE) and other registrable person. Further information on these different categories can be found in the PSC guidance. The following information must be provided about each:
For an individual person with significant control; the date that individual became a registrable person, their name, country/state of residence and nationality, their service address, their usual residential address (this is not shown on the public register), their full date of birth (this is not shown on the public register) and the nature of their control over the company.
For a registrable relevant legal entity (RLE) (such as a company); the date that they became a registrable RLE, their corporate name, their address, the legal form of the corporate body, the governing law under which the RLE was registered, where the RLE was registered (if applicable), the RLE’s registration number (if applicable) and the nature of their control over the company.
For another registrable person (such as a corporation sole or local authority); their name, their principal office, the legal form of the person and the law by which they’re governed, the date on which they became a registrable person in relation to the company in question and the nature of their control over the company.
The annual fee for a confirmation statement filed electronically is £13. The annual fee for a confirmation statement filed on paper is £40.
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