On 26 June, the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive will begin to be implemented into UK law, including new requirements affecting people with significant control (PSC) information
Before the Fourth Money Laundering Directive rules were introduced the UK already had a requirement for companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to keep a publicly available register of PSCs which had to be filed with Companies House.
In November 2016, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) issued a consultation proposing changes to the current PSC regime to meet the new Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
In April, Companies House issued a release explaining how PSC information filing will change when the new rules are introduced in June. PSC details will no longer be updated on the confirmation statement (CS01). Instead, companies will need to inform Companies House on forms PSC01 to PSC09 whenever there is a change. They have 14 days to update their register and another 14 days to send the information to Companies House.
Currently DTR5 companies are exempt from the requirements however, this could change. Companies which are traded on an EEA or Schedule 1 specified market remain exempt, but others will need to send PSC information when changes take place.
From 24 July, both active Scottish Limited Partnerships and any general Scottish Partnerships where all partners are corporate bodies will have to register PSC information with Companies House.
Draft legislation for these changes has not been introduced yet but is likely to be released in June.
The Criminal Finances Bill which will introduce corporate criminal offences for companies failing to prevent the facilitation of UK and foreign tax evasion has reached Royal Assent and will come into force later this year. The new legislation makes businesses liable for the criminal acts of employees who encourage or assist tax evasion by others, such as customers or suppliers, even if senior management was uninvolved or unaware of these acts.
Companies House information on Changes to UK anti-money laundering measures is available here.
Essential reading
People with significant control (PSC) register - what you need to know by Gateley law experts can be read here.
