COMPANIES HOUSE CHANGES - MANDATORY IDENTITY VERIFICATION FOR DIRECTORS AND PERSONS WITH SIGNIFICANT CONTROL (PSCS).

THE ECONOMIC CRIME & CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT

We have reported previously about The Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act, which is bring in sufficient changes at Companies House.

More detail about the Act can be found HERE. 

The first major change impacting our clients who are directors and shareholders is from 18 November 2025, when Companies House will introduce mandatory identity verification requirements.  This applies to all company directors and persons with significant control (PSCs). A PSC is an individual holding more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or can control the appointment of directors.

Failure to register for the mandatory Companies House identity verification process, is a criminal offence. Consequences include potential financial penalties, disqualification from acting as a director, rejection of new company registrations, and the inability to file documents for an existing company. Being unable to file documents, is likely to result in the Company being struck off. 

Companies House has been emailing directors direct, as they push to make everyone aware.

What this means for you

Directors

1. If you are an existing director, you must verify your identity with Companies House. This is all directors, not just one or two.
2. Verification is free of charge.

In order to do this, you will need:

• a GOV.UK One Login account; and
• follow this link to verify your identity by uploading your passport or driving licence and taking a selfie to confirm your identity.
• Once verified, Companies House will issue you with a personal code (11-character code).

Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) but not a statutory director:

1. Anyone who owns more than 25% of the shares in a company but is not a statutory director, must also verify their identity with Companies House.
2. The process is the same as for a director, i.e. in order to do this, you will need

• a GOV.UK One Login account; and
• follow this link to verify your identity by uploading your passport or driving licence and taking a selfie to confirm your identity.
• Once verified, Companies House will issue you with a personal code (11-character code).
•  The deadline for PSCs registration is expected to fall within 12 months from 18 November 2025, but we recommend completing this as soon as possible. For most Harbour Key clients, the directors are the PSCs.

NOTE - You only need one personal code, the same code is used for both director and PSC submissions to Companies House.

Please share your personal code with Harbour Key once received. We will hold this securely on our files.  We will require the code, if we are responsible for filing your Company’s Confirmation Statement and accounts etc, we cannot submit it to Companies House without your verified personal code.  If you are a PSC, we will also need your code once verification becomes mandatory.

Remember failure to register and operate correctly will result in a financial penalty, disqualification and the risk of the Company being struck off.

More details can be found at the Companies House website.