Law firms are being urged to prepare for new Companies House rules for mandatory identifiy verification, which come into force on 18th November.
Client due diligence platform Thirdfort is warning firms not to leave compliance to the last minute, which it says could leave firms and clients open to breaches of the new rules, which create a legal requirement to confirm the identity of all company directors and people with significant control (PSCs) in the UK.
Harriet Holmes, AML services manager at Thirdfort, explained:
“These changes are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA). The act gives Companies House more power to improve the integrity of the UK’s company register and make it harder for bad actors to hide behind anonymous corporate structures.”
Thirdfort has outlined the changes law firms need to implement by 18th November, which include:
- Every company director must have a verified identity code to file a company’s confirmation statement.
- If a director is also a PSC of the same company, personal codes will need to be provided separately for each role. Directors must provide the code in the company’s confirmation statement and PSCs must provide it using a separate service within 14 days of the company’s confirmation statement date.
- For PSCs who are not a director of the same company, personal codes must be provided within the first 14 days of their birth month.
- If a director isn’t verified, their company’s confirmation statement cannot be filed, potentially causing compliance issues for firms and individuals.
‘If an individual is connected to more than one company, they will need to complete this process for each company separately’, Thirdfort added.
“A verified identity code is an 11-character code that is given to an individual once their identity has been verified. The code is personal to them and can be reused across different roles or companies. This enables Companies House to support clearer mapping of individuals and their connections.”
Law firms wishing to offer ID verification services will need to register as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). Firms which are only filing on clients’ behalf must register from spring 2026.
‘We’re already helping firms prepare for these changes, with a solution for verifying ID’, Holmes said.
“We urge law firms not to leave it to the last moment and expose them and their clients to possible compliance failings.”
