What is a Confirmation Statement?

The Confirmation Statement is scheduled to replace the Companies House Annual Return by June 2016 and will be introduced as part of The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act.

All incorporated companies are currently required to file an annual return that encapsulates the key information about the company including registered office address, directors, register location, statement of capital and shareholdings. The new Confirmation Statement is designed to simplify the annual return by requesting a confirmation that the information held at Companies House is up to date and accurate.

Unlike the annual return there will be no set date in the year when a company must file its confirmation statement. Instead the company must ensure that no more than 12 months will elapse between a Confirmation Statement being filed. A further provision will allow a Confirmation Statement to be filed inline with another filing made during the year, this is intended to reduce the administrative burden on the company.

The Confirmation Statement will be very similar to the existing Annual Return but will include some other disclosures also being ushered in under the new Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act.

The key parts of the Confirmation Statement are as follows:

• The date of the review
• SIC Industry classification codes
• Statement of capital
• Shareholdings
• Persons of Significant Control (PSCs)
• A declaration that all filings are up to date

It is worth noting the addition of the Persons of Significant Control (PCS) section. This was introduced as a measure to combat financial crime and money laundering. All UK companies must now maintain a public register of those persons with significant control this is designed to limit the obfuscation of ownership that in the past has facilitated financial crimes and money laundering.

The new Confirmation Statement is scheduled to take effect from 30th June 2016.