The Changing Face of Company Administration
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 introduced earlier this year aims to enhance the UK’s position in the global market as a trusted place to conduct business with a range of opportunities for small businesses.
The Act covers a number of areas associated with small businesses including, access to finance and streamlining company registration and company administration generally through the introduction of new company filing requirements and additional measures to increase transparency.
One such introduction is the Register of People with Significant Control. Amendments to primary legislation, the Companies Act 2006, shall follow to account for this new requirement. A person with significant control is deemed to be an individual who owns or controls more than 25% of the company or who otherwise exercises a degree of control over the management of other company. Draft regulations, The Register of People with Significant Control Regulations 2015, are currently open for consultation. These Regulations further set out a company’s requirements as well as associated matters such as fees, data protection and additional details on individuals considered to have significant control.
Other features introduced under the 2015 Act are (i) the prohibition against corporate directors, except under a limited number of circumstances; this shall again increase transparency and also accountability; (ii) the removal of the requirement to file an Annual Return; this is to be replaced with an annual ‘confirmation statement’ whereby the company confirms that all information held at Companies House is correct; and (iii) the change to date of birth information that is available on the public register.
If you are a small business and have any queries on the introduction of the 2015 Act and the consequences this may have on your company administration requirements, please contact Kirstin Ejsmont or call 01224 632 464.
