On 30 October 2019, the BEIS published a report following its review of the "people with significant control" (PSC) register regime created under the Companies Act 2006 in 2016 and discussed in our client newsletters of March 2016 (found here) and July 2017 (found here). The Government's previous review of the PSC Register was covered in our Q3 2019 G&SL newsletter on page 15.
The new statutory regime aimed to improve corporate transparency by showing who ultimately owns and controls UK companies and certain other entities. The review aimed to establish whether the objectives of the new regime remain appropriate and have achieved their original goals, whether there is a less onerous regulatory way to achieve the objectives and whether the regime is still required and remains the best option for achieving the objectives.
The review found that the PSC regime has been effective in meeting the original objectives and the costs to businesses have been proportionate and in line with original estimates. It has helped stop companies being used for criminal activities, has a positive economic effect and is widely used. However, BEIS notes that the reliability of information contained on the public PSC register is unclear and needs to be analysed as part of a wider review of the corporate transparency and register reform.
The written statement announcing publication of the report can be found here and the full report can be found here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
