Recommendation 4

The planned reforms to the role of Companies House leave huge gaps and it is still too easy to register companies fraudulently. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduces significant changes to the role of Companies House, including new powers to remove inaccurate information from the company register and share data with other government bodies. Prior to the Act, Companies House had limited powers to check the validity of information provided to it, meaning it was easy for fraudsters to set up legitimate UK companies for illegitimate means. Companies House’s data show that company incorporations in the UK between 2021 and 2022 greatly exceed those in other countries. Companies House is using its new powers to clean up the register, having removed 50,000 registered office addresses from the register so far. However, Companies House says the reforms will not be fully operational until March