New Register of People with Significant Control introduced in UK Companies

According to the UK’s Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 all UK companies, besides publicly traded companies, must keep a register of people who hold significant control over the specific company. This new policy, known as the register of people with significant control or PSC register will include information on people who are owners or control 25% or more of the company’s voting rights or shares, or who have control over the specific company and management.

Provided that the people who have control over a company tend not to be the same people to those included on the shareholder register, the PSC register will not be the same as the shareholder register.

The PSC register will not only be available to the public but will also be found on the internet under Companies House.

Apart from publicly traded companies, all UKcompanies, both private and public, are subject to comply with the PSC register requirement. Publicly traded companies already report under the DTR 5 regulation.

The UK government has introduced the PSC register in order to create more corporate transparency. The UK is the first to introduce the register, while the EU is also heading towards the same direction in order to comply with the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.