The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 is being brought into force in stages by commencement regulations, with Companies House publishing a transition plan of intended dates. The main milestones so far are 4 March 2024 (new registrar powers and offences), 18 March 2025 (authorised corporate service providers), 18 November 2025 (compulsory identity verification and the end of local registers) and 26 January 2026 (the end of the central register for members). The 12 month identity verification transition for existing directors runs to 17 November 2026, and presenter verification and accounts reforms are planned for no earlier than November 2027 and April 2028.
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How is the Act being brought into force?
Some provisions took effect for limited purposes on Royal Assent, 26 October 2023, but most need commencement regulations made under section 219. The Companies House transition plan says around 50 statutory instruments will be commenced over 18 months, with implementation and transitional periods continuing until completion in 2027, and warns that timelines depend on parliamentary time and may move. The commencement regulations most relevant to companies are:
- Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/269);
- Commencement No. 4 Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/349);
- Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1118);
- Commencement No. 7 Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/57).
The table below sets out each stage and what it asks of companies and agents. The background to each reform is in the overview of the Act; this page concentrates on dates and actions.
| Date | What changed | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 4 March 2024 | Registrar objectives, querying and rejection powers, appropriate registered office, registered email address, lawful purpose statements, wider data sharing, new false statement offences | Set a monitored registered email address; check the registered office is appropriate; confirm lawful purpose on each confirmation statement |
| 1 May 2024 | Higher Companies House fees | Budget for higher incorporation and confirmation statement fees |
| 2 May 2024 | Financial Penalty Regulations take effect; the transition plan says penalties were issued from October 2024 | Answer warning notices within 28 days |
| 18 March 2025 | Registration of authorised corporate service providers; accelerated strike off of companies registered on a false basis | Agents decide whether to register as an ACSP |
| 8 April 2025 | Voluntary identity verification opens | Directors and PSCs can verify early |
| 18 November 2025 | Verification compulsory for new directors and PSCs; 12 month transition for existing ones; registers of directors, secretaries and PSCs abolished | Verify before appointment; supply personal codes; notify changes direct to Companies House |
| 26 January 2026 | Central register option for members removed | Elected companies rebuild their register of members |
| 1 February 2026 | Further fee increases | Update engagement fees and budgets |
| 17 November 2026 | Last day of the 12 month identity verification transition | Make sure every existing director’s code goes in with the confirmation statement |
| No earlier than November 2027 | Presenters must be verified; third party agents must be ACSPs | Agents register as ACSPs; staff who file verify |
| From April 2028 | Accounts filing reforms | Move to software filing; plan for profit and loss account filing |
What changed in 2024?
SI 2024/269 brought the first large tranche into force on 4 March 2024. The transition plan says that from that date Companies House could query and reject filings it suspects to be wrong or fraudulent, remove more inaccurate information, reject misleading company names, require an appropriate registered office address (no PO Box), require a registered email address that is not made public, require confirmation on incorporation and in every confirmation statement that the company’s future activities are lawful, share more information with law enforcement, and reject the appointment of a disqualified director. The false statement offences in sections 1112 and 1112A also date from 4 March 2024; see false statements to Companies House.
The Registrar of Companies (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/155) came into force on 1 May 2024 and set the web incorporation fee at £50 and the electronic confirmation statement fee at £34. Companies House guidance says the Financial Penalty Regulations took effect on 2 May 2024, and the transition plan records that penalties could be issued from October 2024. From 27 January 2025, according to the plan, people could apply to suppress a residential address used as a registered office.
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What changed in 2025 before November?
SI 2025/349 commenced, on 18 March 2025, the sections on verification procedure and authorisation of corporate service providers, unique identifiers, and the registrar’s power to strike off a company registered on a false basis. From that date AML supervised firms could apply to become authorised corporate service providers. Voluntary identity verification opened on 8 April 2025, and from 21 July 2025 Companies House could take applications to suppress other personal details, such as signatures and older day of birth information. The same regulations brought the failure to prevent fraud offence into force on 1 September 2025.
What happened on 18 November 2025?
SI 2025/1118 made identity verification compulsory for new directors and PSCs and abolished the local registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries and PSCs. Its transitional rules are where most of the practical deadlines come from:
- Existing directors. For anyone who became a director before 18 November 2025, the company must deliver an identity verification statement with its next confirmation statement in the transitional period, defined as 12 months beginning with 18 November 2025 (regulation 4).
- When the prohibition bites. The ban on acting as a director unless verified in section 167M does not apply to an existing director until the day after the company files that confirmation statement or, if it does not, the day after its delivery period ends. Companies already overdue on 18 November 2025 had until the end of 2 December 2025 (regulation 4(6) to (8)).
- Existing PSCs. For a PSC who is not a director, the appointed day for verification depends on their month of birth, running from 1 December 2025 for December birthdays to 1 November 2026 for November birthdays. For a PSC who is also a director, and whose details are not protected, it is the day after the company’s first review period ending within the year from 18 November 2025 (regulation 5). Companies House guidance says each PSC has a 14 day period in which to provide their personal code.
- Outstanding notices. Changes to directors, secretaries and PSCs that should have been notified under the old provisions had to be notified under the new ones within 14 days beginning with 18 November 2025 (regulations 6 and 7).
Companies House guidance says a company will be unable to file its confirmation statement unless all its directors are verified, and that continuing to act after the deadline without complying is an offence. See Companies House identity verification for the verification routes.
What has changed in 2026 so far?
SI 2026/57 brought section 49 of the Act into force on 26 January 2026, removing the option for private companies to keep their members’ information on the central register; companies that had elected must rebuild their own register (see the end of keeping registers at Companies House). The Registrar of Companies (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1137) came into force on 1 February 2026, raising the web incorporation fee from £50 to £100 and the electronic confirmation statement fee from £34 to £50 (£62 to £110 on paper). The current schedule is on our Companies House fees page.
What is due at the end of 2026?
The 12 month transitional period that began on 18 November 2025 ends on 17 November 2026, so every company with existing directors will have had one confirmation statement in which to supply verification statements. The transition plan says that by no earlier than the end of 2026 Companies House should be able to:
- complete the transition for everyone on the register who needs to verify, and start compliance activity against those who have not;
- require limited partnerships to submit more information;
- cross check more data with other public and private sector bodies;
- reject documents delivered by disqualified directors unless delivered by an ACSP where the law allows.
What comes in 2027 and 2028?
The plan says that by no earlier than November 2027 identity verification of presenters will become a compulsory part of filing any document, and third party agents filing for companies will have to be registered ACSPs, with at least six months’ notice. From April 2028 Companies House expects to require software filing of all accounts, strengthen the audit exemption statement, require all parts of the accounts to be filed together and limit how often a company can shorten its accounting reference period. On 23 October 2026 it confirmed that abridged accounts will stay and paused the plan to make small and micro companies file a profit and loss account. See small company accounts filing options for the current choices.
What should companies and agents be doing now?
- List every client director and PSC and record whether they have verified and supplied their personal code.
- Diarise each company’s confirmation statement date between now and 17 November 2026, and each non director PSC’s appointed day.
- Check the registered email address is monitored, because Companies House uses it to contact companies about their filings.
- For agents that file for clients, plan for ACSP registration and for staff who file to verify before presenter verification becomes compulsory.
- Start moving clients towards software accounts filing ahead of April 2028.
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Related Accountapedia entries
- When existing directors must verify their identity
- Identity checks for people filing at Companies House
- When PSCs must verify their identity
- What is a Companies House personal code
- Limited partnership reforms
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 1132A
- GOV.UK: Economic crime and corporate transparency act outline transition plan
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2024/269
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2025/349
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2025/1118
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2026/57
- legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 1112
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2024/155
- GOV.UK: Companies house approach to financial penalties
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2025/1137
Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.