A central registry of companies’ beneficial ownership is among government proposals to shake up UK company law.
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has published a discussion paper setting out its proposals for company law reform.
These include:
- a central registry of companies’ beneficial owners;
- the abolition of bearer shares;
- measures to tackle misuse of corporate directors and nominee directors;
- ways of making directors more accountable for misconduct or company failure; and
- a review into the use of pre-pack administrations.
The central registry information on beneficial ownership would be maintained by Companies House and hold information on individuals with more than 25% of shares or voting rights in a company or who otherwise control the way a company is run.
Key questions will include whether information in the registry should be made public, what information is to be provided and how it is to be updated.
For more advice please contact us at commercial@blasermills.co.uk