A company’s statutory registers

Since 18 November 2025 a UK company no longer keeps its own registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries or people with significant control; that information is now held only on the Companies House register. The main register a company must still keep itself is the register of members under section 113 of the Companies Act 2006, together with records such as minutes and written resolutions, copies of charge documents and, where relevant, directors’ service contracts and a register of debenture holders.

Which registers did companies stop keeping in November 2025?

Section 51 of and Schedule 2 to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 are headed “Abolition of certain local registers”. They came fully into force on 18 November 2025 under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1118). The effect was to omit:

• sections 161A to 167F of the Companies Act 2006, which required a register of directors and a register of directors’ residential addresses;
• sections 274A to 279F, which required a register of secretaries;
• Chapter 3 of Part 21A, which required the register of people with significant control (PSC register).

In their place, the Act now imposes direct duties to notify Companies House. A change of director must be notified within 14 days under section 167G, a change of secretary within 14 days under section 279G, and Companies House guidance says changes to PSC information must be reported within 14 days. The company must still take reasonable steps to find out whether anyone is a registrable person and to identify them (section 790CB), even though it no longer keeps its own PSC register.

A separate option for private companies to hold their register of members on the central register (Chapter 2A of Part 8) was also omitted, with effect from 26 January 2026.

What must the register of members contain?

Under section 113 as it currently stands, the register must show:

• the names and addresses of the members;
• the date each person became a member and the date any person ceased to be a member;
• for a company with shares, the shares held by each member, distinguished by number (if numbered) and by class (if there is more than one class), and the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid on them.

Joint holders are named individually but treated as a single member (section 113(5)). If a limited company has only one member, the register must contain a statement to that effect and, where the number falls to one, the date it happened (section 123). In England and Wales and Northern Ireland no notice of any trust may be entered on the register (section 126). A company with more than 50 members must keep an index of names unless the register itself works as an index, updated within 14 days of any change (section 115). Entries for a former member may be removed ten years after they ceased to be a member (section 121).

The 2023 Act also makes further changes to section 113, including retaining historic information and new “required information” for members. Those amendments are not yet in force, so the current wording above still applies.

Failing to keep the register is an offence by the company and every officer in default, with a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale and a daily default fine for continued contravention (section 113(7) and (8)).

What other statutory records must a company keep?

Record	Companies Act 2006	Key rule
Minutes of general meetings and written resolutions of members	Sections 355 and 358	Keep for at least ten years; members can inspect free of charge
Copies of instruments creating or amending registrable charges	Sections 859P and 859Q	Creditors and members inspect free; others on payment of the prescribed fee
Directors’ service contracts, or a memorandum of unwritten terms	Section 228	Keep for at least one year after the contract ends
Register of debenture holders, if the company keeps one	Section 743	Kept at the registered office or an alternative inspection location

For shares, entries must be made promptly. An allotment must be registered within two months of the allotment date (section 554; see allotting shares), and a transfer lodged with the company must be registered, or refused with reasons, within two months (section 771).

Where must the registers be kept, and who can see them?

Section 114 requires the register of members to be kept available for inspection at the registered office or at a place specified in regulations under section 1136, usually called a single alternative inspection location. If it has not always been kept at the registered office, the company must notify Companies House of where it is kept. Similar rules apply to the minutes, charge instruments, service contracts and debenture register.

Under section 116 any member may inspect the register of members without charge, and anyone else may do so on payment of the prescribed fee. Anyone may require a copy. The request must give the requester’s name and address, the purpose for which the information will be used and whether it will be passed to anyone else. Section 117 gives the company five working days either to comply or to apply to the court. If the court is satisfied the request is not for a proper purpose, it will direct the company not to comply.

How does this work in practice?

Illustration only. A company has two shareholders, Priya with 70 ordinary shares and Tom with 30. On 1 March Tom transfers all his shares to Chloe and the transfer form is lodged with the company. The company must register the transfer, or refuse it with reasons, by early May. When it registers the transfer it records Chloe’s name and address, the date she became a member, her 30 ordinary shares and the amount paid up, and records the date Tom ceased to be a member. The next confirmation statement will then show the updated shareholder information.

If Chloe is appointed a director, the company does not add her to any internal register of directors. It notifies Companies House within 14 days under section 167G, and her identity must be verified (see Companies House identity verification).

What happens if a register is wrong?

Under section 125, the person aggrieved, any member or the company can apply to the court to rectify a register of members that omits required information or includes information it should not. The court may order rectification and payment of damages, and can decide questions of title to shares. Errors usually surface at the worst moment: on a sale of the company, when a buyer’s lawyers check the chain of title, or when dividends are declared and paid to the people the register shows (see how to pay dividends legally).

What mistakes do companies make with statutory registers?

• Continuing to update an old register of directors or PSC register and forgetting the 14 day notice to Companies House, which is now the only legal record.
• Not updating the register of members after a transfer or allotment, so the register and the confirmation statement disagree.
• Recording a trust over shares on the register, which section 126 prohibits in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Keeping records away from the registered office without telling Companies House where they are.
• Ignoring an inspection request instead of complying or applying to court within five working days.
• Discarding minutes before the ten year retention period ends.

A company that has appointed a company secretary will usually give these tasks to them, but the offences apply to every officer in default.

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Related Accountapedia entries

• The end of keeping registers at Companies House
• Keeping company registers at an alternative location
• What if the statutory registers are not up to date
• Who can inspect a company’s register of members
• Can company registers be kept electronically
• Registers an LLP must keep

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2023 c. 56, schedule 2
• legislation.gov.uk: SI 2025/1118, regulation 2
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 162
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 275
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 790M
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 279G
• GOV.UK: People with significant control pscs
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 790CB
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 128A
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 113

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.