Provisions of Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 now in force

A number of the provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 came into force on 4 March 2024. This Act is intended to give UK Companies House greater powers to prevent UK companies from being used for economic crimes.

The key changes are: 

• The requirement to register and maintain an email address for correspondence with Companies House, which will need to be provided when the next confirmation statement is filed. This should be an email address which is regularly monitored by the company.  This email address will not be made public.
• The requirement that a company's registered office is an "appropriate address". This means an address where documents delivered will come to the attention of the company and where delivery can be acknowledged.
• The requirement to send a confirmation of lawful intended future activities at the same time as any confirmation statements.

Further provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 are due to come into force later in 2024, although we don't yet know the date. These provisions are expected to be more wide ranging, and include a requirement for the identity of all directors of UK companies to be verified.