Companies House – Data improvement

Companies House have sent a further update around their new powers under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.

One of the key aims of the new Act is to improve the accuracy and quality of the data on the registers, to help tackle economic crime and improve confidence. The Act has granted them new and enhanced powers to query information that appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information held.

Over time these powers will improve the accuracy and integrity of the information on the register and safeguard against misleading or unlawful activity.

What this means

Companies House can now take a more robust approach to dealing with information that’s been provided to them by querying information and requesting supporting evidence.

They’ll remove information if it’s inaccurate, incomplete, false or fraudulent. They’ll also use annotations on the register to let users know about potential issues with the information that’s been supplied.

Data matching is being used to identify and remove inaccurate information, and they also have more powers to share information with law enforcement agencies and other government departments.

What to do if you’re asked for more information

If Companies House request more information , they expect a quick response, so they can decide the next steps. If you do hear from them, please let us know, and we can guide you from there. 

There is a chance that any query can escalate to a formal query for information. If no response is received at this point, it can be classed as a criminal offence and there could be serious consequences including:

• a financial penalty
• an annotation on the company’s record
• prosecution

As always, do get in touch if you receive any communication from Companies House, and we’ll help where we can. Their role is changing quite dramatically with the new Act and we’ll keep you up to date as the various amendments mentioned earlier take effect.