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Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE ECONOMIC CRIME & CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT 2023 IS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN PHASES AND MAY CHANGE SOME OF THE TEMPLATES BELOW. 

Economic crime is considered to pose a serious threat to the UK’s national security, economy and its institutions as well as causing serious harm to society and individuals. The UK government is committed to tackling this issue and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) is a key part of this strategy. The ECCTA received Royal Assent on 26th October 2023.

The ECCTA is multifaceted and includes for example provisions related to crypto assets and new intelligence gathering powers for law enforcement. However, for private companies the most significant reform is to the role and powers of Companies House (CH). Amongst the key changes for private companies include:

  • an identity verification regime,
  • changes to the type of accounts filed for small companies and micro-entities,
  • changes to CH filings and the keeping of company registers and records, and
  • enhanced powers for CH to check, remove and reject information.

This collection contains some useful templates for SME private companies considering how the ECCTA will affect them and what information to disseminate to their directors, shareholders, PSCs and other affected stakeholders.

We will add to this group of templates as the ECCTA comes into force and regulations are passed bringing it into effect.

More information is available on our Information Pages here. The government has also created some useful factsheets which can be accessed here.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act is part of Corporate. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Corporate for 1 year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act and why does it keep changing our filing requirements? +
It is the 2023 Act rebuilding Companies House from a passive filing cabinet into an active gatekeeper, with powers to verify, query and reject information on the register. Because the reforms need new systems, they commence in phases: address and email rules in March 2024, identity verification from November 2025, register changes at the same time and accounts reform in April 2028. Each phase lands as its own new requirement, which is why the changes keep coming.
Who in our company has to verify their identity and by when? +
Every director and person with significant control, plus LLP members in an LLP. New appointees verify from 18 November 2025 as part of appointment. People already in post verify by the company's first confirmation statement date after that, so every existing officer is covered by 18 November 2026. Verification is done once through GOV.UK One Login or an authorised provider and follows the person, not the company. The register shows each person's due date.
Which of our statutory registers disappeared and what replaced them? +
From 18 November 2025 the duties to keep local registers of directors, directors' residential addresses, secretaries and PSCs were abolished, and the option to keep the members register centrally at Companies House ended. The register of members is now the only register you must keep, and for everything else the Companies House record is definitive, fed by your notifications within the usual deadlines. The Register of Members sub-folder covers the surviving duty in detail.
What did ECCTA change about our registered office and email? +
Since 4 March 2024 your registered office must be an appropriate address at all times, one where documents reach someone acting for the company and delivery can be acknowledged, ending PO box registrations. Every company must also maintain a registered email address for Companies House communications, supplied at incorporation or via the confirmation statement and kept off the public register. Companies House can move non-compliant companies to a default address and escalate from there.
What ECCTA changes are still coming that we should plan for? +
Two main ones. Filing restrictions: Companies House will limit who may deliver documents, with third party agents needing registration as authorised corporate service providers and individual filers needing verified accounts, postponed to no earlier than November 2026 so the director and PSC transition completes first. And accounts reform from April 2028: software-only filing, no abridged accounts and profit and loss filing for small companies with a publication opt-out.
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