Companies House identity verification: what the ECCTA changes mean for your raise
New UK rules require directors and people with significant control to verify their identity. Here's why it matters before you go out to raise — and what to do now.
The takeaway
Identity verification at Companies House is moving from optional to mandatory for every director and PSC. It's admin, not a threat — but unverified officers stall filings, and stalled filings stall diligence. Verify early and reconcile your PSC register before you raise.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) is the biggest change to Companies House since it was founded. It turns the registrar from a passive filing cabinet into an active checker of the information it holds — and the piece founders will feel first is mandatory identity verification (IDV).
In short: anyone who sets up, runs, owns or controls a UK company — directors and people with significant control (PSCs) — must verify who they are, either directly through GOV.UK One Login or via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) such as an accountant or formation agent. Third parties who file on a company's behalf must be a registered ACSP too.
The timetable is phased
Verification opened on a voluntary basis first, then becomes compulsory — for new incorporations and newly appointed directors first, and for existing directors over a transition period tied to their confirmation statement, with PSCs brought in alongside. The exact dates have shifted more than once, so treat any specific date you read as provisional and confirm the current position on GOV.UK.
The direction of travel is not provisional, though: within the transition window, every director and PSC of a live UK company will need a verified identity on the register.
Why a founder about to raise should care now
Two reasons. First, an unverified director or PSC can hold up filings — and a rejected or delayed filing is exactly the kind of avoidable friction that surfaces at the worst moment, mid-diligence. Second, a new investor taking a board seat becomes a director, so they will have to verify too; an investor who does this for a living will expect your existing officers already to have.
It also quietly raises the bar on the contradiction checks this whole site is built around. As the register gets more accurate, the gap between what a company *says* about its ownership and what the PSC register shows gets easier for an associate to spot — so reconciling the two before you raise matters more, not less.
What to do
- Verify early — don't leave it until a filing is due. Directors can verify via GOV.UK One Login; PSCs the same.
- Check your accountant or formation agent is a registered ACSP if they file for you.
- Reconcile your PSC register against your actual cap table now, and be ready to explain any difference (see the related red flag on PSCs below).
- Build a little lead time into your raise for any new investor-director to verify before they can be appointed.
Sources
General information to help you prepare — not investment advice, not legal advice, and not a guarantee of any fundraising outcome. Companies House data can lag real filings by days or weeks. Rules and timetables change; confirm the current position with the linked official sources.