The clock is ticking on the PSC regime requirements

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Are you still unsure of the PSC Regime requirements under The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015?

complianceThe new regime is a key component of the Government’s drive to increase transparency over the owners and controllers of UK businesses with a view to reducing tax evasion and the criminal misuse of companies for activities such as money laundering. To ensure the regime has ‘teeth’, failure to comply will be a criminal offence with those found guilty facing a prison term of up to two years and/or an unlimited fine.

From 6 April 2016 all private companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, unlisted public companies, LLP’s and European companies must maintain a PSC Register.

The regime in a nutshell makes it obligatory for each company or LLP to:

  1. take reasonable steps to identify people with significant influence or control over the company (PSC’s);
  2. contact those people to obtain and confirm the relevant information;
  3. register the relevant information in the company’s own PSC Register;
  4. file the information at Companies House; and
  5. monitor the information and update the PSC Register when any changes occur.

PSC’s are also under an obligation to provide relevant information to the company (or LLP) over which they have significant influence or control.

There is non-statutory guidance which sets out the official wording which should be entered in the PSC Register in all relevant situations, and the obligation to file PSC information at Companies House comes into force on 30 June 2016.

If you need assistance with the form of the prescribed wording for the PSC Register, wording relating to PSC conditions, or the information to be collected about PSC’s and held in a company’s or LLP’s own PSC Register and filed at Companies House, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can call us on +44 (0)7495 583 936 or email us at enquiries@liberumcs.uk to either arrange a visit or to have a chat through the implications the PSC Regime has for you.