Changes to Confirmation Statements Introduced: What you need to know

Major changes affecting Confirmation Statements came into effect on 4 March 2024

6 Mar 2024

There are some major changes affecting Confirmation Statements which came into effect on 4 March 2024.

These measures were introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act).

The specific changes to Confirmation Statements are:

Registered email address

All companies now need to provide a registered email address. Companies House will use this email address to communicate with the company – it will not be available to the public.

New companies will need to give a registered email address when they incorporate.

The company will need to confirm that emails sent to the registered email address by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.

Statement to confirm the company activity is lawful

A statement has been added to the Confirmation Statement to confirm that the intended future activities of the company will be lawful.

This will be required every year on the Confirmation Statement.

And there is a further change which has not yet been activated:

Identity Verification – (Companies House is yet to set effective date)

Companies House will be introducing a new identity verification process.

Anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity to prove they are who they claim to be.

Companies House has not yet advised how this will work or when it will come into force but will advise in due course.