From 6 April 2016, there is a legal requirement for all companies to maintain a register of People with Significant Control (PSC). A PSC is an individual who meets one or more of the following five conditions:
- Directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the shares,
- Directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the voting rights,
- Directly or indirectly holds the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors,
- Has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control,
- Has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the activities of a trust or firm which is not a legal entity.
In respect of format, the register can be held electronically or hand written, but it must contain the following information on each individual:
- Name.
- Date of birth.
- Nationality.
- Country, state or part of the UK where the individual usually lives.
- Service address (this is in effect a correspondence address, we suggest using the companies registered office).
- Usual residential address (this must not be disclosed when the register is made available for inspection and will not be disclosed by Companies House).
- The date the individual became a PSC (default date should be 6 April 2016 if individual would have been a PSC before this date).
- Which conditions are being met, i.e. 1) to 5)
- If conditions 1) or 2) are met then they must disclose which category they fall under; Over 25% up to 50%, more than 50% and less than 75%, 75% or more.
- The register only needs to state if an individual meets condition 4) if they do not meet one of the conditions 1) to 3).
- Whether an application has been made for an individual’s information to be protected from public disclosure (which can only be made if there is a threat of violence or intimidation).
More information is available here.