Amendments have been made to the obligations imposed upon regulated persons to report discrepancies between information on a company's beneficial ownership which they hold and the information which is available at Companies House.

Regulated persons (for money laundering purposes) are, when onboarding new customers, required to report to Companies House any discrepancies between information they hold about their customers' beneficial owners and the information recorded at Companies House about the company's 'persons with significant control' (PSC). A similar reporting obligation applies in relation to trusts registered with HMRC.

On 1 April 2023 the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 (2022/860) amended the existing discrepancy reporting regime. Changes made to the regime include:

  • Material discrepancies only – Only material discrepancies, as opposed to all discrepancies, need to be reported to Companies House. The regulations provide that a discrepancy is "material" if it: (i) may reasonably be considered to be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing, or to conceal details of the business of the customer; and (ii) is one of the type listed, such as a difference in name, or an incorrect entry for a person's date of birth, nationality or correspondence address.
  • Beneficial owners of overseas companies – Since 1 August 2022, overseas entities that hold UK property interests have been required to register at Companies House (more information about the new register of overseas entities can be found on our blog here). As part of that registration process, an overseas entity has to provide information about its beneficial owners. Under the amended discrepancy reporting regime, regulated persons must report discrepancies between information they hold about an overseas entity's beneficial owners and that registered at Companies House.
  • Ongoing obligation – Regulated persons must now also report material discrepancies when conducting customer due diligence or monitoring an existing business relationship with a UK company or a registered overseas entity, not just at the start of the relationship.

Companies House has updated its guidance on how to report a discrepancy about a PSC or a registrable beneficial owner to reflect these changes.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.