Mandatory ID verification and abolishment of certain local registers now in effect

Today (18 November 2025) significant changes to UK company law came into force as part of the continued roll out of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). These are summarised below:

1. Mandatory Identity Verification (IDV)

From today, mandatory IDV applies to all individual directors, persons with significant control (PSCs) and LLP members. 

This new regime captures new and existing directors of both UK companies and non-UK companies with a registered UK establishment (ie a registered UK branch). For existing directors, PSCs and LLP members, there is a transition period of up to 12 months, with different deadlines applying to different individuals. Annotations now appear on the Companies House register against each UK company and LLP stating the deadline for director, PSC and LLP member IDV. In the future, there are also expected to be annotations confirming when a particular director, PSC or LLP member has completed IDV.

Once IDV has been completed by an individual, this must be confirmed to Companies House before the applicable deadline by filing the relevant form/making the relevant online submission. Although IDV should only need to be completed once, this filing/submission step is required in respect of each company and in respect of each relevant position. In most cases the IDV confirmation is provided as part of an existing filing obligation but, in some cases, wholly new Companies House forms or submissions are required to be made – including submissions via a new online PSC IDV portal.

In the future, IDV will also become mandatory for corporate directors, corporate members of LLPs, LPs and relevant officers of RLEs – but timing is not yet confirmed. 

2. Abolition of requirement to maintain certain registers

From today, UK companies are no longer required to hold and maintain a register of directors, register of directors’ residential addresses, register of secretaries or PSC register. As a result, there are now new and amended notification/filing obligations – and related criminal offences - that apply to companies, PSCs and certain third parties. 

For more information about these and other ECCTA-related changes, please ask your usual Freshfields contact for a copy of our two client briefings: 

• ID Verification: Timing and tips (17 September 2025) and
• 18 November 2025: New wave of ECCTA changes (18 November 2025).