The UK law regarding the formation of UK companies will begin changing from the 4th March 2024.
This article will give you guidance on the first changes you can expect to see with UK Incorporations/Filings and what action you need to take.
Greater powers to the registry:
The changes to UK Company Law now give the registrar enhanced powers, which enables them to improve the quality and accuracy of information that is held on the public register. This includes (but is not limited to):
- Enhanced checks on company names that may provide a risk of misleading/false impressions to the public
- Scrutinising and rejecting information that appears/is incorrect or inconsistent with data that is already on the register.
- Removing any current information on the register that the registry find is potentially false, inaccurate, fraudulent, or incomplete.
- Annotating the register to inform any users regarding potentially incorrect issues with the information on the register
- Using new data matching technology to identify any inaccurate information and quickly remove it
- Sharing information with other government departments and law agencies
Companies will be liable to serious consequences if they fail to respond or act to a formal request from the registry to provide/update information about their company. These are not limited to financial penalties, prosecution of directors and annotating the register to advise users the information is not correct.
Changes to Registered Office Addresses:
The registrar is changing the way they accept Registered Office addresses and have advised that companies will now need to have an 'appropriate address' as their registered office. This now means that companies will not be allowed to use a PO Box as part of its registered office; they can still use addresses provided by third-party agents containing department numbers, suites etc.
Those companies still using a PO Box are required to change the address by March 4th, CFS Formations can assist in updating your Registered Office if you are currently using a PO Box, please contact our UK Formations team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for assistance in this matter. Any companies that fail to update a PO Box address by March 4th have the potential to be struck off.
If the registrar finds a company to be using an inappropriate address, they will change it to their default address and give the company 28 days to change it to an appropriate one. Failing to do so within the advised dates, the register may start a strike-off process.
Registered Email Address:
One of the biggest changes coming on March 4th is the requirement for companies to provide an email address.
This address will be used for the registrar to send correspondence to the company, this could be if they find information about the company to be inaccurate, or if they fail to make contact to the company by physical mail. Please note that filing reminders and late penalties will continue to be sent by physical mail for the time being.
The email address will not be on public record, however, may be shared (if required) with other Government Bodies (for example HMRC).
All new incorporations will need to provide the email address upon registration, and any existing companies will be required to provide an email address on their first/next Confirmation Statement filing. CFS Formations can assist with filing your Confirmation Statement, please contact our UK Specialists for assistance. After the email is originally registered with the registrar, there will be a new system for you to update the email address. CFS will offer a service to update your company’s email address.
Lawful Purposes:
All new company incorporations will need to provide a statement which confirms their company is being setup for lawful purposes. The company must also confirm on any future Confirmation Statements that the company's activities are continuing to be lawful.
Other useful Information:
CFS Formations thrive to advise our clients of any new/upcoming changes as soon as possible, and we will continue to update our Help and Guidance pages with any new information we receive regarding the new company laws.
Our website will soon be updated to comply with the new legalisation and information required for incorporations/filings. You will have the peace of mind that, by using our system, your company will be setup correctly and in accordance with all new measures and laws.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any concerns or questions regarding the new company laws, and one of our friendly UK Specialists will be more than happy to help.
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