Proposed changes to disclosure of directors’ residential addresses
Great news for directors wishing to protect their personal information from the Companies House register
Following the implementation of the Companies Act 2006, directors have been allowed to use a service address only for documents filed after the 2006 Act came into force, thus keeping their residential address private.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published the draft Companies (Disclosure of Address) Regulations 2018 (Regulations), to amend company law to make it easier for directors, companies and others to remove historic residential address information from the Companies House register.
The draft Regulations will remove the need for directors to demonstrate that there is a serious risk of violence or intimidation due to the company's activities, before a historical residential address can be removed from the Companies House register. This would allow directors to apply to remove their personal address and replace it with a service address.
The draft Regulations will:
- allow such an application to be made with no time limit; this would allow directors to go beyond 1 January 2003 (as is currently the case); and
- allow for such application to be made in respect of residential address for all members, former members or subscribers.
The draft Regulations also make amendments to the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009.
Why is this great news for company directors?
There have been an increasing number of complaints from directors and members being put at risk of identity fraud and intimidation because their home address is publicly available on the public register at Companies House. The proposed changes are long-awaited as they provide further protection of directors’ personal information.
The draft Regulations are yet to come into force; while no date is available yet, the Government has stated that the Regulations will come into force by the end of summer 2018.