Company Directors' Residential Addresses
Following the final implementation phase of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Act") on 1st October 2009, company directors may now choose to prevent their residential address being placed on the public register.
Pre 1st October 2009
Whilst the residential address of a director was part of the public record held by Companies House prior to 1st October 2009, it was possible to obtain a confidentiality order which allowed a director to remove their home address from public record. However, such a confidentiality order would only be granted if a serious risk of violence or intimidation existed.
Post 1st October 2009
Under Section 229 of the Act directors may now file a service address at Companies House, in addition to their residential address, and only the service address will be available to the public. The residential address of a director will only be available to specified public authorities such as the Police, the Serious Fraud Office or credit reference agencies.
In the event that a director does not file a different address in respect of their service address, their residential address will be used as the service address. Therefore in order to take advantage of this new provision, Form CH01 (Change of Director's Details) must be filed at Companies House.
Glovers comment:
The ability to remove a director's residential address from the public domain is a positive and long overdue change, particularly in light of the dawn of the internet age and the increased risk of identity theft. This will be of particular interest to directors of companies operating in sensitive sectors, however all company secretaries should consider whether they wish to take advantage of the new provisions.
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.
