UK SBS RE140176BIS Analysis of International Company Data

BIS and Companies House (CH) recognise that the integrity of data on Companies held by the Registrar is an important issue. We are currently considering whether any additional checks are necessary to improve integrity. At the same time we wish to ensure the UK’s company registration regime remains quick, simple and inexpensive – a key Government objective for promoting an entrepreneurial culture.

We have concluded that the best approach to understand the various costs and benefits of the options around verification is to undertake research to compare the UK’s data verification regime against those in a few other jurisdictions. This will allow BIS and CH to further understand best practice, the impact of different company registry regimes on register integrity, criminal and fraudulent activity, and refine our understanding of the burden it places on business and Government, to inform policy development. It will also allow BIS and CH to consider whether, and if so how, improvements should and could be made within the current legal framework and be integrated into the work of CH’s integrity unit and the CH integrity strategy. As yet, robust evidence does not exist to inform the development of reforms.

By verification we mean activity carried out pre-registration; that is, before information is accepted and placed on the register. It covers validation – checking that data is present, correctly formatted and, where applicable, within an acceptable range of values. And additional potential pre-registration checking which could range from requiring assurance of the identity of an individual to establishing the accuracy of a fact being asserted. The outcome of validation is a limitation to the data which is placed on the register whilst further verification results in an assurance of the veracity of certain data.

The research is needed to extend the existing knowledge held internally and gained through CH work with the European Commerce Registration Forum (eCRF) and the World Bank benchmarking reports to cover the impact that these different regimes have on the costs and benefits to business, the accuracy of the register and potentially criminal behaviour. It will also highlight the operational requirements and the impact for CH in the event of a change in policy.