As part of UK's government's efforts to increase transparency of UK companies, as of 6 April 2016 and as part of the new UK disclosure regime, UK companies will be required to maintain and disclose a register of People with Significant Control
(PSC).
The new rules require that all UK Companies and LLP's (whether public or private), maintain and register of People with Significant Control in order to ensure that individuals who ultimately own or control UK companies are identified along with details of their holdings.
A PSC is an individual who satisfies one or more of the following conditions:
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directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the shares
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directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the voting rights
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directly or indirectly has the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors
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otherwise has the right to exercise significant influence or control, and/or
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has the right to exercise significant influence or control over the activities or a trust or other entity which is not a legal person, which itself satisfies one or more of the above conditions
Where there are layers of ownerships, including foreign entities and trust structures, these need to be examined in order to identify the individual who ultimately controls/influences the UK corporate.
The information will be filed at the Companies House and will be available for public inspection to UK and International revenue authorities and online via the UK Companies House.
UK incorporated companies and LLPs will be require to set up and maintain a PSC register from the 6th of April 2016. In addition, companies will be required to complete a Confirmation Statement with Companies house, and this will replace the Annual Return beginning 30 June 2016.
Failure to comply with the provisions of the PSC register will be considered as a criminal offense and may result in fines and/or imprisonment.
If you have any questions in regards to the new disclosure regime please don't hesitate to contact us at
info@internetincorporate.com