Companies House identity verification & ACSPs
Role-specific verification, authorised agents and the relationship with AML controls.
Companies House identity verification is part of a changing corporate-register framework. Identify the person’s role and the filing or event concerned before deciding what is required. Authorisation to act as an insolvency practitioner and registration as an authorised corporate service provider are distinct matters.
Start with the role and the date
Requirements are introduced in phases and may differ for a new director, an existing director, a person with significant control or another person involved in a filing. Use current Companies House guidance for the precise role and event.
A deadline attached to a confirmation statement or a particular appointment is not a universal deadline for every company officer. Avoid carrying forward an old implementation timetable without checking current instructions.
Understand the authorised-agent role
An ACSP is registered with Companies House to carry out specified activities. Registration involves conditions, including applicable AML supervisory arrangements and fit and proper criteria. Being professionally qualified does not by itself establish ACSP registration.
Where a firm verifies identity as an authorised agent, use the current evidence, record and reporting requirements. Personal identity codes and verification evidence should be handled securely and used only as authorised.
Connect verification to the wider work
Identity verification does not replace the AML assessment of a customer, beneficial ownership, source of funds or the nature of an engagement. Equally, having completed CDD does not by itself mean that all Companies House verification and filing steps have been completed.
In an insolvency case, identify the actual filing obligation and check the current service instructions for that filing and office-holder. Do not assume that all identity requirements for directors apply in the same way to every practitioner submission.
Technical detail
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 amends the corporate-register framework through provisions with different commencement dates. Read the relevant amendments and current Companies House implementation material together.
England and Wales: source route
Companies House serves the UK register, including companies registered in England and Wales. Identify the particular company, office-holder role and form. The phased identity regime should be checked against the current service instructions rather than treated as a single requirement covering every insolvency submission.
Sources & review
Read the source in its own context. Legislation may contain commencement provisions and changes not yet applied to the displayed text. Professional guidance is identified separately from law.
Initial source-based editorial review: 26 Oct 2026. Next scheduled review: 26 Nov 2026. Substantive changes are reviewed before publication.
Added in the practice and regulation expansion requested on 26 October 2026. Primary-source editorial check; this is not independent professional approval. Future measures are distinguished from provisions in force.
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