New powers for Companies House from 4 March

Regulations giving new powers to the Registrar of Companies have been published and laid before Parliament. They are expected to take effect from 4 March 2024.

Background

The regulations have been made under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (see here) and form part of a series of objectives aimed at promoting the integrity of the companies register and the register of overseas entities, to ensure that information contained in the registers is accurate and does not give a false or misleading impression to members of the public.

New powers to amend registers

Broadly, the regulations confer powers on the registrar to:

• annotate the companies register and the register of overseas entities with information that the registrar considers to be appropriate to remedy any misleading or confusing material; and
• remove erroneous and misleading material from the registers. 

Further information

See the Registrar (Annotation, Removal and Disclosure Restrictions) Regulations 2024 (companies and LLPs), the Register of Overseas Entities (Annotation and Removal) Regulations 2024 (overseas entities), and the explanatory memorandum. 

For further guidance and updates on the ECCTA see our Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Hub.