What is it?

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) is a reform of the UK’s company law framework. The act has several aims that together seek to reform the company register (Companies House) and the role it plays to ensure it is fit to meet the money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF) challenges currently posed by the ever changing and ever more sophisticated landscape of economic crime. The various powers that it bestows upon Companies House to achieve this come into force in phased stages from 4 March 2024 until spring 2026.

The reform’s key objective is to enhance transparency and strengthen confidence in the integrity of the company register’s data by taking measures to verify it, provide new powers to remove false data and sanction those who breach standards. This will underpin better business conditions and facilitate the ease of conducting business in the UK securely. It will deter those wishing to use companies for illegal purposes and strengthen the UK’s business environment, making its financial system a more hostile environment to criminals, thus disrupting economic crime and financial flows.

Previously, all information submitted to the register was not subject to any verification procedures. This created the conditions for enterprising criminals to submit false information to obscure truthful ownership and incorporate fake companies and file false confirmation statements and financial statements with the intention of committing fraud.

How will it achieve greater transparency?

The ECCTA sets out many provisions to legislate its reform objectives and enhance corporate transparency. As stated above, the timetable for its implementation will see powers phased in over time, requiring over 50 separate statutory instruments as well as secondary legislation. The key measures being implemented are:

• the introduction of identity verification – it will be compulsory for anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a company in the UK to verify their identity
• new requirements to provide additional shareholder information, and restrictions on the use of corporate directors  
• provide effective investigation and enforcement powers for Companies House to issue financial penalties for any relevant offences under the new Act and the Companies Act
• give Companies House increased powers to analyse and share data with law enforcement agencies and other government departments
• expedite the striking off of companies where the registrar has concluded the company has been formed for a false basis
• require all limited partnerships to submit more information, providing greater transparency for users of the register.

What do you need to do?

The central pillar of the ECCTA is the verification of data and information submitted to Companies House. Whilst individuals wishing to submit information to the company register can verify their identities themselves directly with Companies House via the gov.uk portal, accountants are expected to play a crucial role as intermediaries who will complete the necessary identity verification checks on behalf of their clients.

The ECCTA requires that the following persons who submit data to the company register be subject to identity verification measures:

• new directors and people with significant control (PSCs) 
• existing directors and PSCs
• anyone acting on behalf of a company.

It will also be necessary in the future to verify the identifies of members of limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) registration

Any ACCA member in public practice who intends to provide identity verification services on behalf of their clients will need to register with Companies House to become an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (authorised agent).

You can apply to become an authorised agent directly with Companies House; registration opened on 24 March 2025 and authorised agents have been able to submit identity verification checks on behalf of clients since 8 April 2025. The fee to become an authorised agent is £55.

To be eligible to become an authorised agent, firms will need to have a UK AML supervisor in place – if your firm is supervised by ACCA, this will ensure you meet this criterion. If you’re unsure whether or not you are, please refer to ACCA’s guidance note. If you do not meet the criteria outlined in the guidance, then you will need to take steps to determine who your AML supervisor is and make arrangements with the relevant body if you haven’t already.

When applying to Companies House to become an authorised agent, you will need to prove that ACCA is your firm’s AML supervisor; to do this you will need to provide Companies House with your firm’s name and firm registration number – this is different from your individual ACCA membership number (you can find your firm registration number by searching for your firm on ACCA’s firm directory).

If you provide your individual membership number instead of your firm registration number to Companies House they will reject your application as they will not be able to verify that your firm has an AML supervisor. This could lead to significant delays in becoming an authorised agent as you will need to resubmit with the correct firm registration number. You will also need to verify your identity so be sure to have the necessary approved identity documentation to hand.

ACCA provides a list of supervised firms to Companies House on a regular basis and the applications are matched with these details. Some common reasons for an application being rejected are:

• incorrect AML ID – using your personal ACCA membership number instead of your supervised firm’s ID (please check on the ACCA directory for your firm ID)
• correct name format – eg using Ltd instead of Limited or vice versa. Although Companies House has been working on a solution to this issue, and in most cases it may not be an issue, you should try and match these details as they appear on the firm directory to avoid an erroneous rejection
• mismatched truncated names where dots or spaces are used inter-changeably, eg ABC Limited vs A.B.C. Limited or A B C Limited. Again try and ensure the name matches exactly as shown on the ACCA directory.

Once you have completed the registration process Companies House will set up an authorised agent account and issue you with agent codes (much like HMRC’s agent codes for authorised tax agents). As per Companies House guidance, you should then be able to file on behalf of clients from Spring 2026.

Legal requirements

There are certain legal requirements all ACSPs must adhere to once registered and any breaches of these could result in the account being suspended, the agent’s name being published on a suspension list and/or receiving a fine or a criminal prosecution. The key legal requirements are set out below.

Companies House authorised agents must comply with the following legal requirements:

1. The agent must always be registered with at least one Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisory body.
2. The agent must tell us if there is a change to any of the information we hold about the agent. They must do this within 14 days.
3. If we request it, the agent must provide more information:
   · about the agent’s filings with Companies House
   · about identity checks, if the agent verifies someone’s identity for       Companies House
   · to prove the agent is complying with their legal responsibilities
4. The agent must keep records of any identity checks for seven years, if they have verified someone’s identity for Companies House.

For full guidance, see Being an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).