The UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) represents a landmark overhaul of the nation’s anti-fraud and corporate governance laws. Enacted in October 2023, it delivers the most far‑reaching changes to Companies House powers and related legislation since the mid-19th century. The ECCTA strengthens transparency by demanding more accurate corporate data, identity checks, and beneficial ownership disclosure, while introducing new criminal offences and regulatory tools to tackle fraud and money laundering. It is intended to “safeguard our national security” and “reduce the economic and social costs of fraud” by making the corporate register “a more reliable” information source. In practice, this means tougher compliance rules for businesses of all sizes and new enforcement powers for regulators.
Background and Context
For years UK companies have been misused as vehicles for economic crime. Complex corporate structures, fake directors, and hidden owners have frustrated law enforcement and undermined confidence in the UK business environment. In 2022, over 14.4 billion searches were made against the companies register – up from 6.5 billion in 2018–19 – reflecting its vital role in the economy. However, fraud remains endemic: in the year to Sept 2022, fraud accounted for an estimated 41% of all crime against adults in England and Wales. High-profile exposés (e.g. “Panama Papers”) and sanctions investigations highlighted how UK-registered firms and property are exploited by kleptocrats, sanction-evaders and criminals.
In response, successive governments have layered reforms. The 2017 Criminal Finances Act created the first corporate “failure to prevent” offences (for tax evasion and money laundering). In 2022, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act mandated the Overseas Entities Register (ROE) for foreign owners of UK real estate and broadened unexplained wealth orders (UWOs).
The ECCTA builds on this agenda. In parallel with the UK’s second Economic Crime Plan (2023–26), it aims to “cut crime, protect our national security and support the UK’s legitimate economic growth and competitiveness”. The Act was driven by the recognition that “UK companies have been misused by criminals to commit fraud, money laundering and other forms of economic crime”, and that existing measures were too slow or limited. The government emphasises that the ECCTA will “drive up the accuracy of information held on the registers”, making the UK’s open economy “the best regulated in the world”.
Importantly, the ECCTA reforms the very role of Companies House. It imposes new statutory objectives on the Registrar – including ensuring accurate, complete registers and “prevent[ing] companies… from carrying out unlawful activities” – and endows the office with unprecedented powers to query filings, verify identity and remove false information. It also reforms criminal law, adding a new corporate “failure to prevent fraud” offence and expanding law enforcement powers (e.g. freezing and confiscation). These measures aim to “change corporate culture” by making entities accountable if they are used to facilitate fraud.
Key Provisions of the Act
The ECCTA encompasses multiple reform areas. The main themes are corporate registry reform, corporate criminal liability and fraud prevention, and financial crime enforcement tools. Key provisions include:
Companies House Reforms:
The Act gives the Registrar of Companies a suite of new powers to make the register more reliable. For example, from 4 March 2024 the Registrar can query or outright reject filings she suspects are fraudulent or misleading. New rules tighten company names (e.g. prohibiting names that imply foreign-government links) and remove inappropriate addresses (companies can no longer use PO boxes). Companies must now file additional data (such as confirming at incorporation and on each confirmation statement that their future activities are lawful) and must provide a registered email address for official communications.
Crucially, the Act introduces identity verification: eventually all directors, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) and certain officers must prove their identity to Companies House. Failure to stay verified is itself a criminal offence. These measures make it much harder to slip fictitious or “ghost” owners onto the register and improve data reliability.
Registrar’s New Objectives and Powers:
Four statutory objectives are imposed on the Registrar of Companies: (1) ensuring required documents are delivered, (2) ensuring the register’s accuracy and completeness, (3) preventing the register from creating a “misleading impression”, and (4) preventing companies or others from carrying out or facilitating unlawful activities. To achieve these, the Act authorises new enforcement tools: Companies House can require extra information from companies, share data with law enforcement and regulators, and strike off non-compliant companies more readily.
Financial Penalties by Companies House:
Perhaps most strikingly, Companies House may now impose civil fines for many offences under the Companies Act 2006, replacing some criminal prosecutions. Regulations effective May 2024 set out this regime: a person (company or officer) who “beyond reasonable doubt” has committed a Companies Act offence can be fined up to £10,000 per offence. Offences include trivial administrative breaches (e.g. failing to update the register) and serious ones (e.g. fraudulent trading). Penalties may be fixed sums or daily rates. Companies House has issued guidance that it will consider offence severity and past history in setting fines. These powers took effect in late 2024; however, initial enforcement has been modest (see Outcomes below).
Beneficial Ownership and the Overseas Entities Register:
The Act strengthens disclosure of ultimate owners. All UK companies (and relevant foreign entities owning UK land) must list their PSCs, and now those PSCs must be verified. The scope of the Overseas Entities Register (ROE) – for foreign firms holding UK property – is broadened. ECCTA ensures that legal entity trustees (corporate trustees) in any ownership chain must be listed as registrable beneficial owners, even if they already have their own disclosure rules. Where an overseas entity has a trustee anywhere in its ownership, that trust involvement must be recorded. A power is also added for the Secretary of State to expand registrable owner categories if needed. In effect, ECCTA closes loopholes where complex trust structures could obscure ownership of UK assets.
Corporate Criminal Offences:
ECCTA establishes a new offence of failure to prevent fraud, modelled on the existing failure-to-prevent tax evasion and money laundering offences. A large corporate (or certain unincorporated bodies) is criminally liable if someone “associated” with it (employee, agent, subsidiary, etc.) commits a fraud intending, directly or indirectly, to benefit the organization, unless the organisation can prove it had “reasonable” fraud-prevention procedures. Guidance (published Nov 2024) emphasises that fraud must benefit the company and that six principles of “reasonable procedures” (including top-level commitment, risk assessment, due diligence, communication and monitoring) will be expected. In practice, this means large businesses must strengthen anti-fraud controls or risk prosecution if insiders abuse the company for fraudulent ends.
Reforming Partnerships and Director Disqualification:
The Act tightens rules on limited partnerships (LPs), which have been used for money laundering. All LPs (and Scottish limited partnerships) will be required to provide key company details to Companies House, improving transparency. For corporations serving as company directors, ECCTA imposes restrictions: only UK-registered corporate entities can act as directors, and all natural-person directors of a corporate director must themselves be verified. Overseas corporate directors are banned. Additionally, Companies House can reject filings (such as new director appointments) if the proposer is a disqualified director.
Data Sharing and Enforcement Collaboration:
ECCTA provides new legal gateways for Companies House to share data with law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory partners (HMRC, SFO, NCA, FCA, etc.). This builds on the “intelligence hub” functions that Companies House has already instituted. The Act also obliges Companies House to report to Parliament (within 6 months of Royal Assent) on implementation progress, ensuring ongoing oversight of the reforms.
Other Measures:
ECCTA includes a handful of additional measures. These include expanding the use of unexplained wealth orders (lowering the threshold from £50k to £20k in property value for UK-linked assets, among other changes) and granting stronger powers to the National Crime Agency. The Act also introduces protections against “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (SLAPPs) related to economic crime allegations, aiming to deter frivolous litigation intended to silence critics. Furthermore, it enables the seizure of suspected criminal cryptocurrency assets and updates corporate insolvency law to strengthen director accountability.
Implementation Timeline and Process
ECCTA’s provisions are being introduced in phases. The Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. Companies House began exercising its new powers from 4 March 2024 (following a notice period). Below is an outline of the rollout (based on official Companies House transition plans):
- From 4 March 2024: Companies House began to: reject fraudulent or incorrect filings; remove more inaccurate information; expunge unauthorised personal data from documents; and refuse misleading company names. It also started rejecting the appointment of known disqualified directors. The Registrar began requiring companies to supply a valid email address and to confirm the lawfulness of the company’s future activities upon incorporation and annually. These powers were applied at once to “straighten the register” immediately after enactment.
- From 1 May 2024: Companies House increased its incorporation and annual filing fees, using additional funding for fraud investigations and enforcement.
- From October 2024:CH was empowered to levy civil penalties (up to £10,000) for Companies Act offences. (The Financial Penalty Regulations 2024 took effect 2 May 2024, but CH began issuing notices in the autumn)
- From 27 January 2025: Individuals could apply to suppress their residential address (and business email) from public view where it has been used as the company’s registered office address.
- From 18 March 2025: Companies House began expediting strike-off proceedings against companies formed on a false basis. It also commenced the registration of “Authorised Corporate Service Providers” (ACSPs) – third-party entities (subject to UK AML regulation) that can perform identity verification services.
- From 8 April 2025: Companies House allowed voluntary identity verification by individuals.
- By Summer 2025: CH intends to give public authorities (on request) access to certain trust information in the Register of Overseas Entities, and to permit more suppression of personal data (e.g. dates of birth for older filings).
- By Autumn 2025: Identity verification will become compulsory at point of incorporation and for new director/PSC appointments. A 12‑month transition will begin requiring all existing directors/PSCs (around 7 million people) to verify identity during the annual confirmation statement filing.
- By Spring 2026: Verification will be required for anyone filing any company document (presenters), and all agents filing on behalf of companies must be registered as an ACSP. Documents submitted by disqualified directors will be rejected unless filed by an ACSP (for permitted filings).
- By End of 2026: All limited partnerships must file more detailed information. The identity-verification transition period will conclude: Companies House will start enforcement action (penalties or prosecutions) against any directors/PSCs who have not complied.
- Following Implementation of Accounts Reforms: The government is separately introducing digital filing requirements for company accounts. Once those rules are in place, Companies House will mandate fully digital accounts filings (with XBRL data) for all companies, remove options for abridged accounts, and require small companies to file full profit and loss accounts and directors’ reports. Audit-exempt small companies must add enhanced exemption statements to their balance sheet.
- Corporate Director Restrictions (ongoing): After general rollout, Companies House will enforce that any corporate director must have an all-natural-person board and be a UK-registered corporation; corporate directors’ human board members must verify their identity.
The government notes that about 50 statutory instruments (secondary rules) will be needed, spread over 18 months, with full implementation “continuing until completion in 2027”. In practice, this means businesses should expect a multi‑year transition, with fresh compliance obligations phasing in year by year. Companies House has committed to regular updates and has published a transition plan and newsletter to keep companies informed of upcoming changes.
Impacts on Businesses: Obligations and Compliance
All UK businesses – from large corporations to small enterprises – are affected, though not uniformly. Key compliance obligations include:
Accurate and Complete Filings:
Under new objectives, companies must ensure their annual confirmations and accounts are complete, accurate and timely. Late or incorrect filings can now trigger civil penalties. Directors should immediately correct any known errors on the register (e.g. officer details) to avoid enforcement. From March 2024, Companies House has been able to strike off companies that fail to provide a valid registered office address or that otherwise appear “defaulted” (e.g. due to fraud). Companies are required to notify Companies House of any material changes in their structure or personnel without delay.
Registered Contact Details:
Every company must supply a registered email address (not public, used for official contact) and an appropriate (non-PO box) registered office address. If a company’s address is deemed inappropriate (for example, used fraudulently), CH will change it to a default address and may strike off the company unless a valid address is provided.
Annual Confirmation Statement:
In addition to financial compliance, each company’s annual statement will now include a legal declaration confirming that the company’s future activities are, to the best of the directors’ knowledge, lawful. This puts responsibility on directors to ensure their business plans do not involve illegal conduct or sanctions breaches.
Identity Verification:
Over time, every company director and PSC must verify identity with Companies House. Initially voluntary, this becomes mandatory: new incorporations and appointments after Autumn 2025 must include identity checks, and existing directors/PSCs must comply by 2026. If someone fails to verify, the registrar may refuse or remove that person from the register, and continuing on the register without verification will be a criminal offence. Large businesses will often conduct these checks through Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) – private third parties (law firms, accountants, etc.) that register with CH to carry out official verifications. Agents, accountants and company formation firms now must become ACSPs if they act on behalf of multiple clients.
Beneficial Ownership Disclosure:
Companies must keep up-to-date PSC registers with accurate information. Any changes in ultimate ownership must be reported. Businesses should review complex ownership chains: if an overseas entity or trust is in the chain, additional disclosures may be needed. For instance, corporate trustees in an ownership chain must be declared as registrable beneficial owners of a UK company or overseas entity. Overseas entities owning UK property must have already reported their owners to the ROE; those that had not by Jan 2023 now face penalties or restrictions (see below).
Corporate Governance and Fraud Controls:
Large firms (meeting the “large” criteria for Companies Act accounts or turnover) must prepare for the new failure to prevent fraud offence. Although criminal prosecutions under this offence will likely be rare initially (only after guidance on “reasonable procedures” was issued in Nov 2024), companies should proactively strengthen anti-fraud governance. This means updating risk assessments, tightening internal controls, ensuring clear anti-fraud policies, and embedding fraud prevention in staff training. Middle and smaller businesses are not directly liable under this new offence (it only applies to large organisations and public bodies), but even SMEs are expected to maintain good practices to avoid becoming unwitting accomplices to fraud.
Limited Partnerships (LPs):
Firms operating as LPs (or Scottish LPs) must file significantly more information: currently only one general partner needs to register, but ECCTA requires both general and limited partners to provide their details to Companies House. LPs should prepare to furnish these partner details in the coming regulatory updates.
Foreign-Owned Property:
Companies or individuals who hold UK land through overseas entities should note that the ROE is active. As of mid-2024, over 30,000 overseas companies owning UK property have registered and provided their beneficial owners. Those who have not complied will face enforcement. In fact, Companies House has already begun issuing formal penalty notices to in-scope overseas entities that failed to register, threatening fines and restrictions on dealing with property.
Fee Changes:
Companies should be aware that incorporation and filing fees increased from May 2024. The higher fees are justified as funding for the enhanced fraud-fighting work of Companies House. Small businesses must budget for the slightly higher nominal costs of future filings.
Reputational and Operational Impact:
Firms need to communicate these changes internally. Directors and company secretaries must ensure compliance to avoid not only fines but also reputational damage. For example, being struck off or penalised under ECCTA (even for a technical breach) could raise questions in due diligence by banks or investors. On the positive side, legitimate businesses gain from a cleaner register: as one CEO noted, new CH powers led to false entries being removed quickly during an investor due diligence, “ensuring the accuracy of the data supporting business decisions”.
Early Outcomes and Enforcement Statistics
In the months since implementation began, Companies House has actively used its new powers, and initial statistics show significant activity:
Removal of Fraudulent Filings:
Between 4 March and 1 April 2024 – essentially the first weeks of ECCTA in force – Companies House “commenced the process to remove names and addresses used without consent” from the register. It removed 4,000 registered office addresses, 2,100 officer addresses and 2,300 PSC addresses that were identified as fraudulent or inappropriate. It also redacted 3,600 incorporation documents to strip out personal data that had been filed without consent. In practical terms, hundreds of companies (and their rogue “owners”) were scrubbed from the register to protect individuals’ privacy and prevent misuse.
False Document Removals:
Companies House removed 1,250 documents from the register in that period, including 800 fraudulent mortgage satisfaction filings that would have required a court order before ECCTA. These were presumably filings purporting to discharge charges on property, used by scammers to mislead stakeholders.
PO Box Addresses:
CH contacted 3,800 companies using a PO Box as their registered office, warning that such addresses were now non-compliant. By 1 April 2024, the number of companies still using a PO Box had fallen to only 1,900, as firms either provided valid addresses or risked being struck off.
Default Addresses and Striking-Off:
On 4 March, 26,800 companies had been labelled with a default (suspicious) registered office address on the register. By 1 April, this had increased to 28,800 due to Companies House actively defaulting the addresses of 4,000 companies suspected of fraud. Of those, 600 companies provided valid addresses and escaped strict action, while 1,400 companies left the register through liquidation or dissolution, making the default designation moot. CH has indicated that any remaining companies with unresolved default addresses would be struck off unless they can prove entitlement to their address.
Law Enforcement Engagement:
Companies House reports a sharp rise in requests for information from police, HMRC, the SFO and others. In 2023–24 CH received 3,204 information requests from law enforcement – more than double the 1,500 baseline in 2021–22. In response, CH supplied data on 6,163 corporate entities to investigators. This reflects Companies House’s new “intelligence hub” function and shows growing law enforcement reliance on the register’s data.
Overseas Entities Register (ROE):
The ROE continued to grow as well. As of March 2024, 30,776 overseas entities were registered – out of an estimated 32,000 in scope – meaning nearly 96% coverage of foreign property owners. The data on the ROE has been accessed over 1 million times by users, suggesting high public and official interest.
Financial Penalties Issued:
Companies House has begun issuing its own fines under ECCTA. Parliamentary answers reveal that 234 penalties were issued between October 2023 and Spring 2025, totaling £58,500 in aggregate fines. (These penalties are for failures such as late filings or not updating the PSC register.) However, actual collections have lagged: to date CH has recovered only £1,250 of that amount. MPs have noted that is just about 2% of the total due, and have urged Companies House to accelerate debt collection (the government says it will refer outstanding cases to debt collectors over summer 2025). The relatively small sums involved suggest CH is initially issuing lower-level fines (e.g. £250–£500 per offence) while building up its enforcement processes.
Statistics Summary:
The table below summarizes key early metrics:
| Measure | Value (most recent) | Notes / Source |
|---|---|---|
| Requests from law enforcement | 3,204 (2023–24) vs 1,500 (2021–22) | CH reports |
| Overseas entities registered (ROE) | 30,776 of ~32,000 in scope (Mar 2024) | 96% coverage |
| PSC addresses removed (4 Mar–1 Apr 2024) | 2,300 | Early enforcement |
| Officer addresses removed (4 Mar–1 Apr 2024) | 2,100 | Early enforcement |
| Registered office addresses removed (4 Mar–1 Apr 2024) | 4,000 | Early enforcement |
| Documents redacted (4 Mar–1 Apr 2024) | 3,600 | Early enforcement |
| Fraudulent filings removed | 800 (mortgage filings) | Early enforcement |
| Companies House penalties issued (Oct ‘23–Apr ‘25) | 234 (total £58,500) | Parliamentary answer |
| Penalties collected | £1,250 (≈2% collected) | Parliamentary answer |
These figures illustrate the early impact of ECCTA: Companies House is actively cleaning up the register and enabling enforcement, and law enforcement agencies are increasingly querying corporate data. A case study from the progress report illustrates the effect: a UK tech firm discovered fraudulent filings on its record (which were hindering due diligence by potential investors), alerted Companies House, and CH used its new powers to remove the false information and “annotated the register, ensuring the accuracy of the data supporting business decisions”.
Case Studies in Enforcement and Compliance
Tech Company Fraud Detection:
As noted, one illustrative case involved a UK tech company whose Companies House filings had been fraudulently altered (for example, false PSC entries) in early March 2024. This tampering was flagged by the company during an investor due-diligence process. Using its new verification and removal powers, Companies House investigated and expunged the false entries, then annotated the register to reflect the corrections. This case demonstrates how rapid CH intervention under ECCTA can protect legitimate businesses from the hidden actions of fraudsters.
Director Disqualification Prevention:
Another example comes from routine filings: after March 2024 Companies House has begun rejecting any document that would appoint a known disqualified director to a company. In one reported incident, a company secretary attempted to register a new director who was on the disqualification list, but the document was automatically rejected. The secretary was alerted to the issue and removed the individual from the filing before resubmitting. This preventive step, enabled by ECCTA, helps avoid inadvertent breaches by companies and underscores the need for companies to check disqualification status before making filings.
Overseas Entity Penalties:
The Overseas Entities Register has also seen enforcement. In July 2023 Companies House began issuing warning notices to the roughly 3,000 in-scope overseas entities that had failed to register by the deadline. These notices threaten fines and restrictions (e.g. inability to deal in UK land). For example, one non-compliant Cyprus-based developer, having received a penalty notice, promptly completed its registration and filed the required beneficial ownership data, thus avoiding the penalties. This compliance drive illustrates the cross-border reach of UK corporate transparency rules.
Failure to Prevent Fraud Guidance:
Although not an enforcement case per se, the government’s November 2024 guidance provides a “case study” in corporate risk management. It cites hypothetical scenarios (e.g. a subsidiary employee committing procurement fraud for the parent’s benefit) and sets out what a board’s “reasonable procedures” should look like. This guidance effectively warns companies that if such frauds occur, they will be liable unless they can show they did everything expected. Large firms are thus using this guidance in boardrooms as a checklist for anti-fraud compliance programs.
Reactions from Legal and Business Communities
Legal commentators and business groups have largely viewed ECCTA as a significant but necessary tightening of corporate law. Law firms note that the Act is “the latest and largest wave of reforms” targeting misuse of the UK business register and emphasize the need for companies to adapt compliance practices. The Law Society highlights the Act’s addition of an economic crime objective in solicitors’ regulator duties and the creation of the new corporate fraud offence. Many law firms and professional advisors have published detailed guides (e.g. Skadden, TLT, Gowling WLG) advising clients on the new requirements.
Business reactions have been mixed. Compliance-focused sectors (banks, accounting firms, corporate service providers) generally support the crackdown, as it levels the playing field and reduces the shadow economy. However, some small-business advocates warn that the changes impose new administrative burdens on SMEs and micro-enterprises. For instance, requiring every director to obtain identity verification (through an ACSP or self-service later on) could be seen as onerous by small firms with limited resources. To mitigate this, the government has tried to phase in requirements gradually and provide guidance. The companies house business plan explicitly acknowledges the need to “balance the ease of doing business and effective regulation”.
There has been public pressure on enforcement. In April 2025, The Guardian reported that despite issuing £58,500 in fines, Companies House had collected only £1,250 of that sum. Liam Byrne, chair of Parliament’s Business Select Committee, criticized Companies House, saying “it’s time for Companies House to get tougher” on non-compliance. The Department for Business and Trade has responded by promising to accelerate collection efforts (e.g. debt collection) in mid-2025. This media scrutiny reflects the expectation that the new powers must be used vigorously to have real deterrent effect.
On the regulatory side, the ECCTA complements moves by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other agencies. For example, the FCA has been reforming its enforcement processes (e.g. shorter investigations, earlier naming of firms) to combat financial crime. Industry associations such as the Chartered Institute of Directors and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales have provided training and templates to help their members comply with ECCTA rules. In summary, the legal profession largely praises the Act’s clarity on fraud prevention (particularly now that guidance has appeared), while business groups appreciate the anti-corruption objectives but urge proportionality and support for smaller businesses.
Future Outlook
The ECCTA’s implementation will continue for several years, and its long-term impacts depend on forthcoming secondary legislation and enforcement rigor. Key future developments include:
Full Identity Verification:
By late 2026, Companies House plans to have essentially all directors and PSCs on the register verified. After that, CH will begin active compliance drives – for example, barring non‑verified directors from holding office and potentially striking off companies with out-of-compliance officers. By 2027, any stale entries should be purged or corrected, significantly improving register accuracy.
Data Integration and Digitalisation:
The Act envisions Companies House cross-checking its data more extensively with other registers (e.g. HM Land Registry, the new Ultimate Owner Register at HMRC, and international databases). Partnerships are being built to match company data against law enforcement intelligence. Additionally, the upcoming accounts reforms (mandating XBRL filing) will provide richer financial data for analysis, aiding credit risk and crime detection.
Regulatory Trends:
ECCTA aligns the UK with international transparency standards (FATF recommendations on beneficial ownership). We can expect ongoing pressure for harmonization with EU post-Brexit regimes and the US Corporate Transparency Act. Globally, there is a trend toward public transparency of beneficial ownership (some parts of the PSC register are already public). It is possible future amendments could further open up or standardize disclosure, although none are presently announced.
Enforcement Forecast:
Early statistics suggest Companies House will ramp up activity. The low initial collection of fines is likely temporary; the official position is that enforcement will “accelerate” in 2025. We expect CH to continue generating intelligence leads for authorities – for example, from anomalies found in filings. The SFO, NCA and HMRC will have stronger evidence bases to prosecute fraud and money laundering. The new corporate fraud offence will take time to produce cases (unlikely in the first year), but its existence alone should prompt companies to bolster fraud controls.
Expected Amendments:
No major legislative amendments to ECCTA are currently pending, but by design the Act grants powers to ministers to tweak certain definitions via regulation (e.g. expanding registrable beneficial owners). Commentary suggests that if gaps appear (for instance, if foreign trusts again escape disclosure), ministers could use these powers. Any future Economic Crime legislation (the government’s next crime plan may propose updates around 2026) would likely refine enforcement thresholds and penalties.
In sum, the ECCTA sets UK companies on a path toward much greater scrutiny. Compliance departments, company secretaries and legal advisors should treat the reforms as permanent change – not a short-lived crackdown. While implementation will stretch over a few years, businesses can begin by verifying their own registers, educating directors about identity checks, and reviewing fraud-risk governance. For law-abiding firms, the benefits will be a level playing field and increased trust in the UK’s corporate data.
Companies House’s Cardiff office – the headquarters of the Registrar of Companies – is at the center of the ECCTA reforms. As of March 2024, the Registrar has begun using powerful new query and enforcement tools to “clean up the register” of illicit entries.
Sources:
UK Government Publications:
Legal and Professional Analyses:
The Law Society: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act
White & Case: Thoughts on the New Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act
Norton Rose Fulbright: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
Simmons & Simmons: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act
Arthur Cox: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act – Latest Developments
TLT LLP: Navigating the UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act
A&O Shearman: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 – Where Are We and What’s Next
Business and Compliance Perspectives:
News and Commentary:
- #ECCTA
- #Economic_Crime
- #Corporate_Transparency
- #UK
13 Jun 2025
