13 October 2026 · Beneficial ownership obfuscation
Identity verification arrives at Companies House
From 18 November 2025, identity verification became mandatory for directors and people with significant control at Companies House, under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. It applies immediately to new appointments and is being phased across existing directors and PSCs over twelve months.
It is the most substantial change to the UK register in its history. For years anyone could be appointed a director of a UK company under any name, and the register recorded what it was told.
What it does not do is establish who benefits. A verified individual can still be a nominee. The declaration of significant control remains a declaration, made by the company, about itself.
The pattern
This is beneficial ownership obfuscation: layered holdings terminating in a nominee, so the declared beneficial owner is asserted rather than evidenced.
A corporate customer's PSC now carries a verified identity at Companies House. What has that changed for your file?
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