Companies House changes to come into effect on 4 March

The government said it is aiming to introduce the first set of Companies House changes aimed at preventing fraud on 4 March.

Described as the biggest shakeup to Companies House in its 180-year history, the reforms are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act which received Royal Assent last October.

Among the changes being introduced in March are a requirement to have an 'appropriate address' as a company's 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 can be recorded by an acknowledgement of delivery

The new rules mean a PO Box cannot be used although a third-party agent's address is allowed if it meets the conditions.

Failure to provide an appropriate address will lead to the company being struck off the register.

Another change is a new requirement for all companies to give a registered email address to Companies House.

New companies will have to share a registered email address when they incorporate, while existing companies will need to provide an email address when they file their next confirmation statement.

Companies will have a duty to maintain an appropriate registered email address. If not, they will be committing an offence.

The full list of new requirements for businesses and new powers for Companies House from 4 March are:

• greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence

• stronger checks on company names

• new rules for registered office addresses

• a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address

• a requirement for all companies to confirm they're forming the company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful on their confirmation

• the ability to annotate the register when information appears confusing or misleading

• taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information

• sharing data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies

Introducing the reforms needs secondary legislation so the government said the date is still dependent on parliamentary timetables. It will not be earlier than 4 March 2024.

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