General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) Policies

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

we would like to bring you up to date with the changes we are making to the system to ensure GDPR compliance.

Our Customers will need to Opt-In to our GDPR policy to allow us to store their data. For a web user customer of the E-Filing company software, you as a user will be asked the new GDPR opt in question when registering or paying for an order. This will appear at the end of the order process below the T&C’s.

If you are a returning user who has previously opted-in, you will not see the question again and if you wish to opt-out you will need to go to the My Account area where you can update your preference.

Every night the E-Filing system will check user accounts that have opted out of GDPR. The system will disable and anonymise the account and all its contents if they are no longer ‘active’. We will identify an ‘active’ customer as follows;

  • Customer has logged in or visited your website as a logged in customer within a five-year timeframe as the prescribed record keeping requirements within the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
  • Has pending orders, this includes Companies House form filings.
  • Has pending leads still outstanding with a partner.
  • Has active services running, such as a Registered Address service.
  • Has positive account or negative account balance.

For full details of our policies see out full GDPR document in our privacy page.

Christmas Opening Times

Our offices will close at 1.00 pm on Friday 22nd December and re-open on Tuesday 2nd January 2018. BTC online formations and the SmartSearch AML platform will be live and operational 24-7 throughout this period. The office will have a skeleton staff from 27th to 29th December to assist with any customer service queries, this should be done in the first instance by an email enquiry.

Thank you for your business in 2017 we do appreciate it, and we look forward to serving you in 2018.

Steve O’Neill

Latest Newsletter

Companies House maintenance and shut down

This is to let you know about planned maintenance that will be occurring at Companies House covering the Easter Break between Thursday, 13 April and Tuesday, 18 April.  This will affect most aspects of their online services

Most of their online services will be unavailable from 11:59pm on Thursday 13 April to 7am on Tuesday 18 April.

Click to read the full post Continue reading “Latest Newsletter”

Electronic Verification of Customers

With the advent of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 just around the corner, getting your policies and procedures ship shape and compliant with the new Regulations can be time consuming especially in the light of Regulation 18(4) which states ‘A relevant person must keep an up-to-date written record of all steps it has taken’ which means your procedures may be asked for by your Supervisory body.

At the heart of the Regulations has always been knowing who you deal with and as such the verification of the client and any beneficial owners are paramount. The new JMLSG guidance in 5.3.14 makes it clear on the verification of not just the customer but also any beneficial owners.

Verification methods have noticeably shifted away from ‘so called identity documents’ to electronic verification, which can offer a much more reliable range of verification data without meeting the customer or beneficial owner face to face.

The range of verification SmartSearches we offer as an agent of Smart Credit are one of the most advanced and reliable offered in the UK covering individuals and company compliance issues.

Please contact us to see how we can help you with your verification of customers on a non-contractual basis.

Seminar Invitation: Anti Money Laundering Update

The next in the Lifecycle national series of FREE training courses is taking place at a venue near you in May 2017.

This series of free seminars is taking place across the UK in May and sees Steve O’Neill, from our partner BTC, present his thoughts on the impact of the new legislation within the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 which are due to come into force later this year.

In his sessions, he will provide an overview of some of the more recent developments that will take place with the introduction of the new legislation that is due to come into effect on 26 June 2017. Continue reading “Seminar Invitation: Anti Money Laundering Update”

Companies House Planned Maintenance

This is to let you know about planned maintenance that will be occurring at Companies House covering the Easter Break between Thursday, 13 April and Tuesday, 18 April.  This will affect most aspects of their online services

Most of their online services will be unavailable from 11:59pm on Thursday 13 April to 7am on Tuesday 18 April.

The essential system maintenance to the online services will affect:

  • WebFiling
  • XML gateway
  • WebCHeck
  • Companies House Direct

This means you won’t be able to file any information online during this period. We will hold all orders in our review files until the system is confirmed to be back up and running on the Tuesday

You should check Companies House Service (CHS) to see if your accounts are due during the planned maintenance. You may need to file earlier than planned.

Christmas and New Year Opening Times

Firstly, can wish all our clients and customers seasons greeting from us at BTC, we hope you enjoy the festive season break.

Our last despatch of physical documents to get to offices before Christmas is on Tuesday 20 December 2016, any physical documents generated after this date will be despatched when we return after the new year.

Our physical office will close on the evening of Tuesday the 20th. Our electronic systems for company formations and money laundering compliance reports will operate as normal 24 hours per day, each day during the holiday period.

We will still check every formation coming through the system before releasing to Companies House. Telephone support will be limited on Wednesday and Thursday the 21st and 22nd and resume as normal on Tuesday the 3rd of January, but we are still running email support for the occasional urgent matters that arise.

So if you have an urgent query email us on the main email address and we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible.

BTC Newsletter June 2016

BTC Company Software

Changes to the incorporation and form filing software

As from 30 June 2016 PSC’s must be provided upon Incorporation by the company, unless they have reason to believe that they don’t have any PSC’s, which will be rare.

The order form been modified to cater for these changes with the inclusion of: ‘Legal Person’, PSC Officer role and Nature of Control questions.

The software suppliers have sought legal advice to ensure that the system complies with the new legislation but we understand that this may not necessarily result in the most practical of a user interface, they have already taken steps to improve the user experience and there will be further updates to the order form throughout July and August.

Continue reading “BTC Newsletter June 2016”

Christmas and Festive Season Opening Times

Christmas and Festive Season Opening Times

Wishing you all a happy seasonal break! It is that time of year again, when myself and Irma actually get a week off! Of course our online company formations and customer AML verification searches do not go off, they run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The various Companies House’s though will be open or closed on the days listed below, of course there will be no company filings processed during these times.

  • Thursday 24 December All offices open, but earlier closure at 4pm
  • Friday 25 December All offices closed
  • Monday 28 December All offices closed
  • Tuesday 29 December All offices open
  • Wednesday 30 December All offices open
  • Thursday 31 December All offices open
  • Friday 1 January 2016 All offices closed
  • Monday 4 January 2016 All offices open (apart from Edinburgh which will be closed)

At BTC our last of despatch of physical documents to get there before will be on Friday 18th of December. Of course online PDF’s generated by the systems will be delivered automatically by email as normal.

During week of the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of December there will be some telephone support and full email support. On Christmas Eve we will have some limited email support.

The following week, the 28th is a bank holiday and the 29th 30th and 31st we will have email support and but no telephone support, we are actually having a few days break.

Full service will be back to normal on Monday January 4th 2015, although it is a bank holiday in Scotland.

Money Laundering Supervison

Steve O’Neill reviews the latest statement concerning Money Laundering Supervision

The UK’s supervisory approach to compliance of obliged entities to the Money Laundering Regulations were branded “woefully inadequate” and are failing to block “corrupt money” and terrorist funds, an anti-corruption body has warned.

This statement was made by Transparency International UK who went on to say billions of pounds of “dirty cash” is entering Britain every year. They state that this is partly due to a fragmented network of regulators means that only a very small amount is being investigated.

Click to read more