First Prosecutions For Failure To Complete ID Verification

The first criminal prosecutions for failure to complete ID verification, as required by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (“ECCTA”), have taken place. The ID verification regime under ECCTA was implemented on 18^th November 2025 and, during the transitional year, all directors of UK companies and members of LLPs, as well as directors of overseas companies with UK establishments, must verify their ID in the prescribed manner and provide Companies House with their personal code on the company’s annual confirmation statement.

Failure to complete IDV is, as we have written about previously in our article Detailed look into ID Verification for Directors., a criminal offence under ECCTA both for the director who has failed to do so and for the other directors. However, lack of IDV does not invalidate anything done by that director or the company.