Companies House begins phased roll out of new powers to tackle fraud

The first measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act) came into force on Monday 4 March 2024.

Changes introduced today include:

  • greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence
  • stronger checks on company names
  • new rules for registered office addresses (all companies must have an appropriate address at all times – they will not be able to use a PO Box as their registered office address)
  • a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address
  • a requirement for subscribers to confirm they’re forming a company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and for a company to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful on its confirmation statement
  • greater powers to tackle and remove factually inaccurate information
  • the ability to share data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies

New criminal offences and civil penalties will complement the measures introduced today.

First changes to UK company law expected on 4 March

First changes to UK company law expected on 4 March

Companies House is aiming to introduce the first set of measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act on 4 March 2024.

They are aiming to introduce the first set of changes brought in by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act on 4 March. The introduction of these changes needs secondary legislation so this date is still dependent on parliamentary timetables. It will not be earlier than 4 March. Continue reading “First changes to UK company law expected on 4 March”

Registration of Overseas Entities on the UK Register of Overseas Entities

Steve O’Neill on behalf of BTC is a Registered Agent for the registration process of overseas entities.

Action required prior to application for registration

Identification of registrable beneficial owners -Before making an application to register, an overseas entity must take reasonable steps to identify its registrable beneficial owner and obtain the required information. The steps that an overseas entity must take include giving an information notice to a person it knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a registrable beneficial owner. Continue reading “Registration of Overseas Entities on the UK Register of Overseas Entities”

Changes to Invoicing Policy

For company formations and filings if the orders do not contain any further printed elements being despatched, we will not produce an invoice only for posting but will rely on the PDF generated version being given to your accounts department.

This brings these products into line with our invoicing policy for our company secretarial anti-money laundering products. This change will come into effect from 1 June 2022.

HMRC probes 153 people suspected of aiding tax evasion

Tax Fraud Investigations

HMRC has confirmed it is investigating 153 suspected ‘enablers of tax evasion’, including both regulated and unregulated tax advisers.

Cracking down on ‘enablers of tax evasion’ has been a key area of focus for HMRC since it established its Fraud Investigation Service in 2015. Continue reading “HMRC probes 153 people suspected of aiding tax evasion”

Same Day Incorporations

Same Day Incorporations

Companies House Update: Same day services are being re-instated for incorporations and name changes as of Thursday 22nd April. Note that the cut-off time will be 11am, and all same day submissions received after 11am will be processed on the following working day.

The same day option is available by ticking the same day option at the beginning of your order.

End of the Memorandum of Association

End of the Memorandum of Association

We are excited about what 2021 has in store for eFiling, our company incorporation software and we will share more information over the coming months. Their current attention focuses on the next Companies House update. As of April 2021, Companies House will no longer accept a Memorandum of Association which means an end to the Memorandum and Articles document within eFiling as we know it today.

The software suppler has been working closely with Companies House to ensure another smooth transition and we will share more details regarding this update, and the migration of the Memorandum and Articles document, in February. This does mean that those who upload their own documents or use their own default for incorporation those documents will have to be amended after this date for future submissions.

Xmas and Holiday

From all at Business Tax Centre

May we thank you for your continued support throughout 2020, a tough year for all.

Our offices will be closed from Wednesday 23rd December for the festive season, we will reopen on Monday 4th January 2020.

During this period our online systems will still be available for all your company incorporations and Anti-money laundering filing requirements. We will also operate a limited email support service for urgent enquiries.

Have a good Christmas and a happy New Year and stay safe, we will see you in 2021.

Steve O’Neill

Introducing The AML Triplecheck

Introducing the AML Triplecheck

TripleCheck is the only AML solution you will ever need, available on a pay as you go basis for our BTC account holders, contact us for a competitive quote.

TripleCheck is a pioneering new electronic KYC and AML solution that combines three highly sophisticated verification methods. Level one is the identification, verification and screening process; level 2 is Facial Recognition and level 3 is Digital Fraud Checks. Together they are TripleCheck, the most powerful, robust and reliable all-in-one AML platform on the market.

Level 1: Identification and Verification with Sanction and PEP screening

Level 2 of TripleCheck combines Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and the latest biometric facial recognition techniques to provide you with a true picture of your customer.

This highly advanced technology performs an algorithmic check on photo identity documents and then, using a customer Selfie Liveness Video (SLV), uses biometric and liveness detection to compare the ‘real person’ with the document provided to ensure the image and information is genuine.

Level 3 of TripleCheck utilises various Digital Elements (DEs) to create robust and simple to understand fraud risk indicators to deliver an overall risk score. A dashboard provides detailed information to support additional due diligence enabling you to further investigate high-risk events.

The SmartSearch TripleCheck technology then matches the DEs to the individual’s terrestrial address enabling the CRA data, ID Document and SLV imaging to be bound together to create a Composite Digital Identity (CDI).

Click here to view a video on the functionality

To open a AML account just simply contact us to discuss your needs