Changes in regulation of UK companies

Most recently, Companies House, the register of companies in the UK, published its business plan for 2017-18, as well as a strategic development plan for the period 2017-2020 and a press release outlining additional anti-money laundering measures.

The article also identified some changes to the Persons in Significant Control (PSC) regime, which will take effect on June 26th.

These measures will include additions to the current PSC reporting requirements.

Unfortunately, at this stage it is not clear whether the Ministry of Enterprise believes that the measures taken fully comply with the requirements of the 4MLD (4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive).

Perhaps, in the near future, additional amendments to the law will be announced.

From 26 June 2017 – Changes in the regulation of UK companies:
1. Information about Persons Exercising Significant Control will no longer be provided upon submission of a Confirmation Statement.
2. Instead, the Companies House will introduce special forms PSC01 – PSC09.
3. Companies will be required to update the information on the Persons with Significant Control within 14 days of any changes.
4. Another 14 days are  for submitting this information to Companies House.
From 24 July 2017:

Unfortunately, the amendments to the bill also affected the Scottish limited partnerships.

Structures in which all partners are legal entities will be required to maintain a register of Persons exercising significant control from July and submit this information to the Register of Companies.

So far, the procedure for submitting PSC data is not clear. But most likely the data on the Persons exercising significant control will be entered in the mentioned forms PSC01 – PSC09, by analogy with LTD and LLP.

Whether this requirement will affect SLP, where partners are individuals, is not yet clear either.

NEWSLETTER MAY 2017 – Changes in the regulation of UK companies
The Registrar of Companies also noted changes in the protection regime preventing the disclosure of data in certain circumstances.
Following the filing of the PSC data, Scottish partnerships, similar to other legal forms, will be able to apply to restrict publicly available information on the Companies House website.

ALTERNATIVE DECISIONS – Changes in the regulation of UK companies

Despite this, there is always a way out and as a replacement for Scottish partnerships. We offer registration of English, Welsh and Irish LP partnerships, which have identical legal form and similar advantages.

At the moment, the privileges of this type of partnerships are that they do not fall under the laws on disclosure of information about controlling persons.

Partnerships registered in England, Wales and the separate Republic of Ireland are regulated by the same Limited Partnership Act 1907 and from the point of view of the Tax Office they are absolutely identical to Scottish partnerships.

As well as “ordinary” companies – this form of LP is subject to state registration with the Register of Companies and the Tax Inspectorate.

Despite this, for more historical reasons, these partnerships are not considered separate legal entities when registered in these countries.

This means that the owners of their property are legally not the partnership itself, but its general partners.

But this does not prevent the partnership from acting and conducting its activities, precisely as a separate person – the partnership has a Certificate of Incorporation with the specified company registration number, as well as a separate tax number.

Most banks have successfully opened and open bank accounts for this type of company. But before opening an account, we ask you to consult with us or with bank employees, because in some cases they may refuse to open an account, believing that it should be opened for a partner, and not the partnership itself.

Summing up, we can say that Irish, English and Welsh LPs are a good substitute for SLP, as well as an effective tax planning tool. It allows you to conduct international commerce, in essence, tax-free (if the partners are not residents of the UK / Ireland and the partnership has no business inside the country).

The specialists of Eternity Law International will provide you with expert advice on purchasing a company in a European jurisdiction, opening a bank account in any jurisdiction.

We offer ready-made offshore companies – it takes 2 days to reissue documents for new owners.

If you have any questions or need advice on the registration or purchase of a company, call us at the phone numbers listed on the website. You can also fill out and send us the form located at the bottom of the page.