The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) is the most significant reform of the Companies House regime in more than a generation. Its provisions have been phased in across 2024, 2025, and 2026, and by the middle of 2026 most of the headline measures are live or in advanced implementation. The combined effect is a Companies House that is materially less of a passive registry and materially more of an active gatekeeper.
For accounting and legal firms that file on behalf of clients, ECCTA changes the day-to-day workflow in subtle and pervasive ways. The identity verification regime, the registered email obligation, the enhanced powers to query and reject filings, and the strengthened information-sharing arrangements with other regulators all alter how filings are prepared, submitted, and recorded.
This insight piece summarises where the regime sits in 2026, what is still being phased in, and what the practical implications are for firms that file at volume on behalf of clients.
Identity verification for directors and PSCs
The headline reform is the introduction of identity verification for individuals filing at Companies House. Directors, persons with significant control, members of LLPs, and others identified in the Act must verify their identity, either directly with Companies House or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).
The regime is being phased in across 2025 and 2026. New incorporations require verified directors and PSCs from the relevant commencement date, and existing companies are required to verify the identity of their relevant individuals by their next confirmation statement filing date after the regime applies. By the end of the implementation window, every person filing at Companies House will have a verified identity on the register.
Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs)
Accountancy firms, law firms, and similar professional service providers that file at Companies House on behalf of clients can register as ACSPs. ACSP status allows the firm to verify the identity of its clients' relevant individuals as part of its existing AML customer due diligence work, with the identity verification then accepted by Companies House without the individual needing to engage with the registry directly.
For firms with significant filing volumes, ACSP registration is a near-mandatory operational step. Without it, every client director and PSC has to undergo a separate verification process with Companies House, which adds friction to onboarding and to ongoing filings. With it, the firm's existing AML workflow extends naturally to deliver verification as a side-effect of CDD.
The registered email obligation
From March 2024, every company has been required to maintain a registered email address with Companies House. The address is not published on the public register, but it is used by Companies House for official communications - including reminders, queries, and statutory notices.
A common failure mode in 2026 is the use of a personal director email address that subsequently changes or becomes inactive. Best practice is to use a firm-managed email alias, with the firm forwarding relevant communications to the appropriate party. This ensures that statutory notices are received even where the client's own email arrangements change.
Strengthened registry powers
Companies House has been given materially stronger powers under ECCTA to query, reject, or annotate filings. The registrar can now require additional information where information appears incorrect, refuse to register documents that do not meet the proper delivery requirements, and remove information from the register where it should not be there.
In practice, the firms that have noticed these powers most acutely are those filing routine confirmation statements and incorporations. Generic SIC codes, registered office addresses that appear suspicious, and PSC information that is inconsistent with the prior filing are all triggers for registrar queries. Be prepared for filings that previously went through without comment to require additional support or correction.
Information sharing with other authorities
Companies House now has enhanced powers to share information with other UK and international authorities, including HMRC, the National Crime Agency, and the FCA. The objective is to improve the detection of economic crime by allowing data to flow between the registry and the agencies that use it operationally.
For practitioners, this is mainly a background change rather than a workflow change. The practical implication is that a client whose Companies House file does not match their HMRC file may face questions from one or both authorities that would not previously have arisen.
Suppression of personal information
ECCTA gives individuals stronger rights to suppress certain personal information from the public register, particularly residential addresses where their disclosure could pose a risk. The application process is administered by Companies House, and the criteria are set out in published guidance.
The relevant cases for most firms involve directors who are at credible risk of personal harm or who have a documented history of harassment. These applications are not common, but where they apply, the firm should be ready to assist the client with the process and to file consistently after the suppression takes effect.
Filing fee changes
Companies House filing fees were materially increased in May 2024 to fund the expanded role of the registry under ECCTA. Incorporation fees, confirmation statement fees, and re-registration fees all rose. The fee increases are a recurring cost for the firm where filings are billed on a pass-through basis, and a margin item where they are absorbed into a fixed monthly fee.
Update your client billing approach to reflect the current fee schedule. Where confirmation statement fees are paid by the firm and rebilled to the client, the rebilling line should be live with the current Companies House charge rather than a static figure from prior years.
Limited Partnership reform
A parallel set of reforms applies to limited partnerships registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907. Limited partnerships must now have a registered office in the same part of the UK as their formation jurisdiction, must use an ACSP for filings or maintain a verified principal place of business, and must submit periodic confirmation statements analogous to the company regime.
Firms with limited partnership clients should review each partnership against the new requirements. Failure to comply can trigger Companies House strike-off proceedings for the partnership, with consequences for the partners and any underlying investment structures.
Practitioner workflow implications
Aggregating the changes, the firm's workflow needs to handle four new touchpoints that did not exist five years ago: identity verification for relevant individuals, registered email management, the registrar's query and rejection regime, and the periodic re-verification of identity status. Each is straightforward in isolation; together, they constitute a meaningful expansion of the work that sits behind a "simple" confirmation statement or incorporation.
A practical mitigation is to integrate ECCTA-driven obligations into the existing AML and engagement management workflow, rather than running them as a parallel track. Identity verification done as part of CDD covers the Companies House requirement; the registered email is set during onboarding and reviewed at each confirmation statement; registrar queries are routed to the engagement manager rather than absorbed into the partner's inbox.
How Accupe handles ECCTA-affected workflows
Accupe is built for firms operating under the current Companies House regime. The Companies House API integration auto-populates filings, OpenSanctions-powered KYC checks generate the verification evidence required for ACSP submissions, the encrypted client portal handles secure document exchange, and Compliance Radar tracks identity verification status alongside the rest of the per-client risk profile. Smart Boards surface upcoming confirmation statement deadlines, AI document analysis reads supporting paperwork with source citation, and e-signatures handle director sign-offs without an additional subscription. For firms managing volume under the ECCTA regime, the operational layer is the difference between scaling smoothly and absorbing recurring failure costs.