Changes To The PSC Regime

Although the PSC regime has only been in force since spring 2016, the government is now consulting on changes to the regime to make it compliant with the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.

The Directive came into force on 25 June 2015 and EU member states must implement it by 26 June 2017.

The consultation highlights two areas where the requirements of the Directive and the UK's existing PSC regime differ and where, therefore, changes to the UK regime will be necessary:

• The Directive requires that centrally-held beneficial ownership information must be current. In contrast, under the UK's PSC regime companies and LLPs only have to report once a year to Companies House through the confirmation statement. (Companies must keep their own PSC registers up to date, but this is not "centrally-held" information.)