Role of ACSPs: Mandatory identity verification for all company directors and people with significant control

What Companies House needs for different roles, and what this means in practice.

Date of verification by role

Companies House confirmed that from Tuesday 18 November 2025:

• new directors will need to verify their identity to incorporate a company or be appointed to an existing company
• existing directors will need to confirm they have verified their identity at the same time as they file their next annual confirmation statement, during a 12-month transition period
• existing people with significant control (PSCs) will need to verify their identity in line with an appointed day within 12 months of the commencement of mandatory identity verification on 18 November 2025
• the director and PSC of the same company will need to provide personal code separately for each role
• a PSC but not a director of the same company will need to provide personal code within the first 14 days of their birth month
  • For example, if your date of birth is 15 January, your 14-day period will begin on 1 January
• anyone becoming a PSC after 18 November 2025 will need to provide personal code within 14 days of being added to the Companies House register.

Please note: Mandatory identity verification for individuals who file at Companies House, limited partnerships, corporate directors of companies, corporate members of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and officers of corporate PSCs, will be introduced at a later date.

What it means in practice

• Once the identity verification was successful, a personal code from Companies House will be provided;
• from 18 November 2025, this personal code along with a verification statement will have to be provided to Companies House;
• it won’t be possible to file the Confirmation Statement without the personal code for every director;
• it will be an offence to act as a director without being verified once director duties commence.

Further advice from Companies House

• Companies will be contacted by Companies House on their registered email address and will be advised what their directors and PSCs need to do to meet identity verification requirements;
• directors and PSCs will be able to check the Companies House register to see identity verification due dates for all their roles;
• in most cases, these individuals will only need to verify their identity once.

These measures are intended to help identify who is setting up, running and controlling companies in the UK and contribute to accuracy and transparency of the register.

Role of AAT AML licensed members

Identity can be verified with Companies House GOV UK One Login by directors and PCSs themselves, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), which can be an AAT licensed member.

There is no action needed from firms which do not intend to provide a verification service.

Firms intending to file papers (including accounts) with Companies House on behalf of clients, will be required to register as an ACSP by spring 2026.

We urge our members to make a well-informed decision about whather becoming an ACSP is the right fit for their firm, particularly in light of compliance risks.

There is a separate identity verification standard set by Companies House which is different from the risk-based approach taken in AML compliance. There are also different record-keeping requirements according to which identity verification documentation for ACSP purposes must be kept for 7 years. There will be offenses in relation to breach of record keeping or late submission of information requested by the registrar.

Read more about ACSPs

Members interested in learning more about AML can go to AAT Lifelong Learning Portal and search for anti-money laundering. There’s also more about ACSPs on Knowledge Hub, including the below articles.

Identity verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs): what you need to know

ACSPs, are you meeting the Companies House ID verification standard?

What can you do to be accepted as an ACSP by Companies House?

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