Guidance

Summary guidance for companies: register of people with significant control (PSCs)

Published 19 November 2025

About this guide

1․ This guide provides a brief introduction for companies to their obligations to record details of their beneficial ownership. This regime is known as the register of people with significant control (PSC register). This guide sets out how the requirements apply to some simple company structures, for illustrative purposes only.

The full guidance should be consulted for companies with more complex structures. UK Societas (UKS) – formerly known as Societas Europaea – limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and eligible Scottish partnerships (ESPs)^{[footnote 1]} should also refer to the relevant sections in the full guidance and separate guidance for them on the meaning of ‘significant influence or control’.

What the register of people with significant control is

2․ UK companies, UKS, LLPs and ESPs are required to identify the people with significant control over them and to report this information to Companies House. The full guidance for companies, guidance for people with significant control (PSCs), and separate guidance for LLPs and ESPs is available on GOV.UK^{[footnote 2]}.

3․ The PSC register helps to increase transparency over who owns and controls UK companies, UKS, LLPs and ESPs. It also helps inform investors when they are considering investing, and it supports law enforcement agencies in money laundering investigations.

What a company needs to do

4․ An officer of the company is required to do all of the following:

• identify the PSCs over the company and confirm their information (see paragraph 10)
• provide this information to Companies House within 14 days
• update the information at Companies House within 14 days of having confirmation of a change
• confirm to Companies House that information on the public register is accurate, if it has not been updated in the previous 12 months

Identifying the people with significant control (PSC)

5․ A PSC is an individual who meets one or more of the following conditions:

i. An individual who holds more than 25% of shares in the company. Review your company’s register of members and identify shareholdings that total more than 25%.

ii. An individual who holds more than 25% of voting rights in the company. Review your company’s register of members, articles of association, and identify people with voting rights (often attached to shares) that total more than 25%.

iii. An individual who holds the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors of the company. Look at your company’s constitution, including articles of association, and identify whether anyone has this right. If there is only one director and someone has the right to appoint them, then they would meet this condition.

6․ The following conditions apply only in limited circumstances and are explained in statutory guidance available on GOV.UK^{[footnote 3]}:

iv. An individual who has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the company. You would consider this where an individual does not meet one of conditions (i) to (iii) but does exercise ‘significant influence or control’ over the company. The statutory guidance sets out principles and situations where an individual would be a PSC.

v. Where a trustee of a trust or a member of a firm satisfies one of the first 4 conditions, or they would satisfy one of the first 4 conditions if they were an individual. Any individual holding the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control over the activities of that trust or firm. If one of the above conditions is met by a trustee of a trust or a member of a firm, or would be met if they were an individual, read the relevant section in the statutory guidance to identify who should be included in the PSC register.

7․ Conditions (i) to (iii) might be met directly or indirectly. A condition is met indirectly where an individual holds their rights through, for example, another company. This guide does not include information on what you need to do when rights are held indirectly; see Chapters 2 and 6 of the full guidance for further information.

8․ These conditions may also be met under a number of less typical circumstances. For example, where there are agreements to vote or exercise rights jointly and the total combined value of the shares or rights exceed 25%. These conditions are explained in more detail in Chapter 6 of the full guidance.

9․ Different rules apply where a company is owned or controlled by another entity, such as a parent company, instead of an individual. This guide does not include information on this situation; see Chapter 2 of the full guidance for further information.

10․ If you do not immediately know the identity of a PSC, you must take reasonable steps to identify them for the PSC register. Details of what this might involve are set out in Chapter 2 of the full guidance

Example

A company is owned by a brother and sister. They both have equal ownership and voting rights in the company. This means they each meet the following 2 conditions:

• condition 1 – they own more than 25% of the shares
• condition 2 – they hold more than 25% of the voting rights

Both siblings must be reported as PSCs to Companies House by the company (see paragraph 10 for information to be provided).

Information you need to collect and report

11․ Before a PSC can be reported to Companies House, you must confirm all the details with them. The details you require are:

• name
• date of birth
• nationality
• country, state or part of the UK where the PSC usually lives
• service address
• usual residential address
• the date they became a PSC in relation to the company
• which conditions for being a PSC are met
  • for conditions (i) and (ii) this must include the level of their shares and voting rights, within the following categories:
    • over 25% up to (and including) 50%
    • more than 50% and less than 75%
    • 75% or more
• the company is only required to identify whether a PSC meets condition (iv) if they do not exercise control through 1 or more of conditions (i) to (iii)

12․ Where it is necessary to enter the details of a company rather than a person, slightly different information is entered on the register, see Chapter 3 of the full guidance.

Making sure you get the information

13․ A company is required to take reasonable steps to contact its PSCs and confirm the information that must be reported to Companies House. If someone refuses to provide the information without a reasonable excuse they will commit a criminal offence. A company may also approach people who it believes have knowledge of who its PSCs are.

Failure to comply without a reasonable excuse by these people is also a criminal offence. It may be necessary to place restrictions on the shares or voting rights of a person or entity withholding information to make sure that they provide it. Where a company is considering this step, they should refer to Chapter 7 of the full guidance.

Recording the information

14․ A company’s PSC register held by Companies House should contain the information listed in paragraph 10 of this guide for each PSC of the company. However, that may not always be possible. Where for some reason the PSC information cannot be provided other notices will need to be sent to Companies House instead, explaining why the PSC information is not available. The register can never be blank.

Providing the information to Companies House

15․ Companies will need to provide the information within 14 days of it being confirmed. The PSC register at Companies House will be publicly accessible.

16․ Individuals who may be at serious risk of violence or intimidation as a result of being disclosed on the PSC register can apply to Companies House to have their information protected. See Annex 1 of the full guidance for further information.

Updating the information

17․ Information on the PSC register at Companies House must be kept up to date.

18․ In most cases, the company must provide updated information to Companies House within 14 days of having confirmation of the change occurring.

19․ Where a company reports to Companies House that it knows, or has cause to believe, that it no longer has a PSC. In this case, it must report that to Companies House within 14 days of having that knowledge or cause to believe.

20․ Where a company reports to Companies House that a person has failed to comply with a notice, it must be reported within 14 days of the date in the notice.

21․ Where a company reports to Companies House that a person has subsequently complied with a notice, it must be reported within 14 days of their compliance.

22․ Where a company gives, or withdraws, a restrictions notice, it must notify Companies House within 14 days of doing so. Where a court makes an order withdrawing a restrictions notice, a company must report that within 14 days of being made aware of the court’s order.

What happens if the requirements are not met

23․ Failure to provide accurate PSC information to Companies House, without a reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence. Failure to comply with notices from a company requiring someone to provide information, without a reasonable excuse, is also a criminal offence. They may result in a fine or a prison sentence of up to 2 years, or both.

1. An eligible Scottish partnership is a limited partnership registered in Scotland (SLP), or a general partnership which is constituted under the law of Scotland, for any period in which it is a qualifying partnership (SQP) under regulation 3 of the Partnership (Accounts) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/569).  ↩

2. Guidance on PSC requirements for companies and limited liability partnerships   ↩

3. Guidance on PSC requirements for companies and limited liability partnerships ↩