65,000 UK companies are unlawfully hiding their beneficial owner
UK company law requires every UK company to disclose the individuals who control it - their "person with significant control" (PSC). But the rules are widely ignored. We've found that around 65,000 UK companies hide their true ownership by unlawfully listing a foreign company as their PSC - that's not permitted. And we're publishing a map showing all 65,000.
Companies House initially enforced the PSC rules with prosecutions - there were 43 in 2016. But prosecutions dwindled over time, with none at all in 2022, and only four in the first quarter of 2023.
Thank you for raising this important issue. Interesting how the government obsesses over benefit fraud, which is absolutely negligible, whilst looking the other way for companies avoiding transparency. It's absolutely class war.
The Confirmation Statement replaced the Annual Return yet it provides less ownership information than we used to have with the Annual Return. More transparency is needed and perhaps tackle the secrecy in the British controlled tax havens.