News

Did you know you need to be listed on the PSC register?

20th July 2016

If you own a business or are a business start-up, you may need to be listed on the PSC register. As of 6 April 2016, the majority of companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), including those which are dormant,  are now required to keep and maintain a register of individuals or legal entities that have control over them, known as the register of people with significant control (the PSC register). The aim of the register is to increase transparency over who owns or controls UK Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships.

Since 30 June 2016, these companies and LLPs are required to deliver the details of their PSC register either on new incorporation or annually, replacing the ’Annual Return’ to Companies House by filing a ’Confirmation Statement’.

It is a criminal offence not to have a PSC Register and to fail to keep it up to date. It is also an offence for a person with significant control to refuse to provide the required information.

A person with significant control is an individual who meets one or more of the conditions below:

• directly or indirectly holds more than a 25 per cent shareholding;
• directly or indirectly holds more than 25 per cent of the voting rights;
• directly or indirectly holds the right to appoint or remove a majority of directors;
• otherwise has the right to exercise significant influence or control; and
• has the right to exercise significant control over the activities of a trust or firm which is not a legal entity, but would itself satisfy any of the four conditions above if it were an individual.

If a company is owned or controlled by a legal entity then details must still be entered onto its PSC register, but only if the legal entity is relevant and registrable.

There are a variety of ways that Myers & Co Solicitors based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire can assist your business in this complex area. For more information please contact our commercial law team on 01782 525010 or email info@myerssolicitors.co.uk.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only.  They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice.  The law may have changed since this article was published.  Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.