How to change the person of significant control (PSC) details

As you might be aware, every limited liability partnership in the UK, along with Societates Europaeae and private limited companies are required to maintain a registry regarding the information of people with significant control in the company. This happened after Companies house, in April 2016, introduced the “Register for People with Significant Control”, more commonly known as PSC Register.

Under this, companies are legally bound to submit the information about PSC via a central public register situated at the Companies House during their first annual returns (now known as confirmation statement). This step was taken by the government to make the ownership of the company clearer to the common public. Knowing “who is who” in a company works as a trust factor and make dealing with the company easier for the government, other companies, and the general public. But easy information is not the only driving factor; the move also aims to bring down money laundering and tax evasion.

Definition of a PSC

People with Significant Control is a title that could be bestowed if the person fulfills any one of the following parameters:

  • Having significant control over decision-making process of the company.
  • Holds over a quarter of votes in a general meeting, directly/indirectly.
  • Holds over a quarter of the nominal share capital, directly/indirectly.
  • Can control the addition or removal of most of the board members.
  • Has a significant control over a trust/firm which, in turn, exercise a significant control over the decision-making of the company.

Making Changes

In cases where the person who is a PSC changes, or his nature or amount of ownership contributing to his status of PSC changes, PSC Register needs to be updated with the appropriate information.

These changes can be made by simply filling a form PSC04 (commonly known as Change of details of the individual person with significant control), which is in an appropriate accordance with the Sections 790M and 790ZA of the Companies Act of 2006. This form must include the list of current details and the modified information, which must include:

  • Name of the PSC
  • Nationality of the PSC
  • Address (both residential address and company address)
  • Date of appointment as PSC
  • Change in nature of PSC (if any)

This form must be submitted during the upcoming confirmation statement. In case you are not sure about filling it, it is always best to seek the services of some formation company expert to help you out.