In June 2016, the People with Significant Control (PSC) register and regulations were introduced with the aim of delivering greater transparency around the ownership of UK corporate entities. Over 99% of entities have complied with their PSC filing requirements. The register is widely used, has a positive economic effect and contributes to the fight against the abuse of corporate structures.<\/p>
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Between 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2021, 210 criminal proceedings were issued against companies and directors in connection with failure to comply with PSC requirements. 119 directors and 91 companies have been convicted.<\/p>
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In October 2019, BEIS published a statutory post-implementation review of the PSC regulations which stressed the importance of ensuring the reliability of the PSC register information. With that in mind, the Government has made clear that it will legislate when Parliamentary time allows to require identity verification of PSCs a part of a broader programme targeted at further improving corporate transparency.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4414", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Scully"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sutton and Cheam"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Paul Scully"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-09-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-09-09T16:46:30.067Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-08-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Companies: Ownership"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure the full disclosure of Ultimate Beneficial Owner status for all UK-registered businesses.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1536", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Emily Thornberry"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Islington South and Finsbury"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Emily Thornberry"} ], "uin" : "40766"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1328103", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1328103/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
On 1 April 2021 the number of registered companies in the UK that had not complied with requirements to declare beneficial ownership, by not listing an ultimate beneficial owner (Person of Significant Control: PSC), was 11,107 (0.25% of the effective register). Between 01/04/19 and 31/03/2021, The Insolvency Service (which is responsible for prosecuting these offences) has achieved a total of 210 convictions, of which 91 companies and 119 directors were convicted for offences relating to the beneficial ownership of companies. Two of the convicted directors also received disqualification orders for a period of 3 years.<\/p>
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Companies House is unable to offer an estimation of the individuals who have not complied with requirements to declare beneficial ownership. Until a company registers the details of the individual, or a statement declaring why no details have been provided, it has no indication for the cause of the non-compliance and cannot, therefore, provide a reliable estimate.<\/p>
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In addition to the companies that have provided details of their Persons of Significant Control, there will be a proportion of compliant companies that have legitimately not provided details of their PSC. This is because either an exemption has been applied or a statement registered in accordance with law declaring why no details have been provided.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4414", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Scully"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sutton and Cheam"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Paul Scully"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-06-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-06-11T10:02:06.93Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-05-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Companies: Ownership"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) companies and (b) individuals who have not complied with requirements to declare beneficial ownership; and how many sanctions have been levied against individuals or companies for non-compliance.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1171", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Liam Byrne"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birmingham, Hodge Hill"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Liam Byrne"} ], "uin" : "7743"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1327923", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1327923/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
As of 1 April 2021, the proportion of all registered companies in the UK, having not listed an ultimate beneficial owner (Person of Significant Control) are 0.25% of the effective company register.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4414", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Scully"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sutton and Cheam"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Paul Scully"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-06-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-06-03T15:39:48.103Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-05-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Companies: Ownership"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the proportion of all registered companies in the UK which have not listed an ultimate beneficial owner; and if he will make a statement.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1171", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Liam Byrne"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birmingham, Hodge Hill"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Liam Byrne"} ], "uin" : "7105"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1140449", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1140449/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Twelve countries have expressed an interest in signing up to the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Disclosure Principles which the UK launched at the Open Government Partnership Summit in May 2019. These commit countries to developing open and free to access registers of beneficial ownership information by 2023.<\/p>
Under the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, EU Member States are required to implement publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership information. In June 2019 the governments of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man announced that they plan to implement their own publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership in line with EU norms.<\/p>
In addition a growing number of countries already have public company beneficial ownership registers. This includes Denmark and Ukraine.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4311", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Williams of Trafford"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-23T16:04:54.877Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Companies: Ownership"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government how many other countries have indicated that they will implement public registers of beneficial ownership apart from the UK and the Overseas Territories.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/497", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Blencathra"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Blencathra"} ], "uin" : "HL17282"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1123688", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1123688/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
As at 30 April 2019, 836 live companies were exempt from the requirements to file information about their People with Significant Control. This is because they are subject to other disclosure requirements due to their voting shares being admitted to trading on a regulated market in the UK or EEA, or on markets listed in Schedule 1 to the Register of People with Significant Control Regulations 2016.<\/p>
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