Key Facts

• Amendments would require companies ordered to change their names under the Bill to comply within 28 days.
• Additional amendments would require the Secretary of State to publish extensions of compliance periods on the Companies House website.
• Kinnock welcomes the appointment of a new Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
• The National Crime Agency estimates £100 billion of dirty money flows through the UK annually.
• Fraud causes £190 billion of damage to the UK economy.
• PwC reports that 64% of businesses have experienced fraud, corruption, or economic crime in the past two years, up from 50% four years ago.
• Clause 15 allows objections based on misleading UK company names.
• Clause 16 gives extra powers to the Secretary of State to direct a company name change if deemed a risk of harm, including outside the UK.
• Delays in the Company Names Tribunal process can take up to three months.
• Clause 16 amends section 76 of the Companies Act to change the harm test from 'likely to cause harm' to 'poses a risk of harm'.
• This amendment gives the Secretary of State greater discretion in directing companies to change their names.
• The potential harm need not manifest itself only within the UK, but can occur anywhere in the world.
• Clause 17 gives the Secretary of State power to direct changes in company names that facilitate criminal conduct.
• The current clause proposes a minimum period of 28 days for compliance, which Kinnock suggests should be changed to a maximum period of no more than 28 days.
• There are approximately 4.5 million companies on the register.
• Amendments 87 to 92 address clauses 14, 17, and 18 of the Bill.
• New clause 34 provides the registrar with discretion to remove a company name from the register when directed.
• The threshold for likelihood of harm in business names is being lowered to pose a risk of harm to the public.
• Amendment 86 seeks to define an 'appropriate address' for a company's registration.
• Amendment 86 includes criteria such as regular business conduct, permission to use the address, and exclusion of PO Box addresses.
• Amendment 94 would introduce a duty on the registrar to assess risks related to economic crime when registering or changing addresses.
• The amendment aims to clarify the Bill's definition of an appropriate address.
• There are instances where hundreds or thousands of companies register to a single address, often in problematic areas like a boarded-up building in Edinburgh.
• PO box addresses have been linked with fraud and criminal activity in several high-profile cases.
• A Scottish limited partnership used Burness Paull's legal firm address without permission.
• The company formed in 2005 but did not comply with Companies House rules until forced to register a person of significant control in 2017.
• Since the rules came into force, only one SLP has been fined £210 for failing to register a person of significant control.
• The FinCEN files example includes an address in Leicester with 36 shell companies linked to Danske Bank in Estonia.
• Another FinCEN file example involves 175 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, which is home to over 1000 companies.
• Clause 28 of the Bill imposes new duties on companies to ensure their registered office address is appropriate.
• Clause 29 provides new powers for the registrar to act against fraudulent addresses.
• Companies may be struck off the register or face daily default fines if they fail to provide an appropriate address.
• Amendment 86 prevents companies from registering with PO boxes.
• Companies House needs new powers and resources to monitor and police the accuracy of company address information.
• Intelligence and information available to Companies House could come from third-party sources, law enforcement agencies or financial institutions.
• The earliest commencement by regulation for companies to move away from PO box addresses is two months after Royal Assent.
• The amendment proposed would be inserted after section 87.
• It aims to introduce a new clause (87A) which imposes a duty on the registrar to assess risks related to economic crime when companies change their registered office addresses.
• If there is a risk, Companies House must determine if the address is appropriate and refer suspicious cases to law enforcement.
• The amendments standardise address information for corporate directors, company secretaries, relevant legal entities, and registerable persons.
• A service address and a principal office address will be required in future.
• New clauses 5 and 6 allow the registrar to change addresses when discrepancies are identified.
• Clause 30 mandates all companies maintain an appropriate email address for communication.
• Providing an appropriate email address is necessary upon submission of the first confirmation statement post-enactment requirements.
• Failure to provide a proper email address constitutes an offense.
• The transitional period will stagger notifications and reduce administrative burden.