UK anti-money laundering changes for PSCs
Changes were made to UK anti-money laundering measures on 26 June 2017 in order to give additional protection against money laundering and terrorist financing. An impact of this has been the amendments to the requirements around public disclosure of information on people with significant control (PSC) in relation to UK legal corporations.
From this date, PSC details will not just be updated on an annual confirmation statement filed with Companies House. Updates will be event-driven and there will be a 14 day deadline to amend a PSC register, and a further 14 days to send the information to Companies House.
Also, to date, companies that are subject to FCA disclosure and transparency rules (UK companies that have voting securities on prescribed markets) have been exempt from requirements to hold information about their PSC. However from 26 June the exemption was narrowed to UK Companies with voting securities traded on regulated market in the EEA and other prescribed markets (in Israel, Japan, Switzerland and USA).
Therefore, UK companies with voting securities traded on non-regulated markets such as AIM and NEX Exchange Growth Market now need to hold a PSC register and file PSC information with Companies House from the 24 July 2017. If a company is traded on an EEA or Schedule 1 specified market, it will still be exempt.
From 24 July 2017 Scottish Limited Partnerships and General Scottish Partnerships will also fall within scope for PSC disclosures.