New Voluntary Notices Following Share Sale or Purchase

Companies House recently (December 2021) announced that it has launched a new online tool to report discrepancies between an entity’s register of persons with significant control (its PSC register) and the PSC information it has filed at Companies House. Whilst certain organisations are required by regulations to report any PSC discrepancies they discover to Companies House (including financial institutions, auditors, accountants, tax advisers, legal advisers, trust and company service providers and estate agents), it is a useful tool for all companies that need to report a discrepancy.

For companies to keep on top of their PSCs, it is particularly important following a share sale or purchase that the target company has all the relevant information from the buying or selling entities to promptly update their PSC register. This can be to reflect either that:

• an individual or entity has ceased to be registrable in relation to the company because they have sold their shares to a third party; or

• an individual or entity is now registrable in relation to the company because they have bought shares requiring registration on the company’s PSC register.

Considering this, two new Voluntary PSC Notice templates are now available to download, (1) confirming a relevant change and cessation as a registrable person or entity (seller), or (2) confirming a new registrable status and providing relevant details (buyer). These voluntary notifications will enable a company to update its PSC register in a timely manner.

Further details on PSCs can be found here, or on the Companies House website.