Companies House has now confirmed that they are aiming to introduce the first set of
changes relating to the ECCT Act after the 4th March 2024.
These changes will include:
- New rules for registered office addresses
- Requirement for all companies and LLPs to provide a registered email address
- New Lawful purpose statements
For more details on these changes please follow the link below:
Updates to your Cosec System
There will be a number of updates to your cosec system in order to comply with the
above changes:
Registered Office Address - PO Box No Longer Appropriate: Make sure
each company has an “appropriate address” (see link above for guidance) as
their registered office at all times. This means companies will not be able to use
a PO Box as a registered office address after 4th March 2024. To update the
registered office of a company, select the company and go to Company >
Details > Registered Office, Email, SAIL and HMRC tab, update the registered
office, (being sure to add a Date of change), click save. The relevant form (AD01)
will be in the Filing Centre ready to be filed.
Registered Email Address: After 4th March 2024, existing companies will need
to give a registered email address when they file their next confirmation
statement, and new companies will need to give a registered email address when
they incorporate.
Step 1 (optional): Setting your organisation’s Registered Email Address:
If your organisation is offering to use your own registered email address for some
or all of your clients you can enter this email in My Office > Settings > Details
and Options. The registered email address box is located underneath your
contact email address (your contact email and registered email address can be
different if you choose).
Step 2: Setting each company’s Registered Email Address:
You can enter the registered email address for each company by selecting the
Company and then going to Company Details - Company > Details >
Registered Office, Email, SAIL and HMRC tab, enter the registered email
address and then click Save. If you’ve chosen to include Step 1 - you can use the
drop down box to select to have your organisation’s Registered Email Address
for you client. The email address will then be automatically included in that
company's next CS01 after 4th March, any CS01s filed before this date will not
include any email address entered on the system. If no email address is entered
in the Company Details page you will be asked to enter a registered email
address before you submit the CS01.
Statement of Lawful Purpose: Both existing companies and new companies
will need to confirm a statement of lawful purpose (see link above for guidance).
When you incorporate a company from 4th March 2024, the subscribers
(shareholders) will need to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful
purpose. They will also need to confirm the company’s intended future activities
are lawful on the annual confirmation statement. The intention of these new
statements is to make it clear that all companies on the register, new and
existing, have a duty to operate in a lawful way. Companies House will not accept
documents if these statements have not been confirmed. From 4 March 2024,
you’ll see these new statements when incorporating a company or filing a
confirmation statement (on the submit page). For new companies there will be a
tick box available when incorporating, and for existing companies, a tick box will
be available at the stage of filing a CS01.