Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice.
Updated June 2026 · England & Wales
Since April 2016, every UK company has been required to identify the people who really sit behind it and report them to Companies House. The idea is simple enough: anyone who owns a meaningful slice of the business, or who can pull the strings behind the scenes, should be on a public register.
In practice, working out who counts as a Person with Significant Control (PSC) can be fiddly, particularly where shares are held through trusts, holding companies, or family arrangements. Getting it wrong is a criminal offence, so it pays to understand the tests properly.
This page walks through what a PSC is, how the five conditions work, what goes on the PSC register, and what you need to file with Companies House when things change.
Overview
A Person with Significant Control is the individual (or sometimes a Relevant Legal Entity) who ultimately owns or controls a UK company. The concept was introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and sits alongside the Companies Act 2006.
It exists to lift the corporate veil: instead of only seeing the registered shareholders, the public and law enforcement can see who is actually in charge. Every private limited company, LLP, and most unlisted public companies must keep their own PSC register internally and report the same information to Companies House.
The register must never be empty, even if no one meets the tests, you still have to record that fact using one of the official statements prescribed by the legislation. PSC information is free to view on the public register, which means names, month and year of birth, nationality, and nature of control are visible to anyone.
Full dates of birth and home addresses stay protected. For most small owner-managed companies, the sole director and shareholder will be the only PSC, but any company with multiple shareholders, a group structure, or outside investors needs to look carefully at all five conditions.
Key steps
Identify anyone who meets the conditions. Go through the five PSC conditions one by one and list every individual or legal entity that meets at least one of them. Remember that shares and voting rights held through nominees, trusts, or other companies can still count as indirect holdings, so trace ownership back to the real people.
Confirm the details with each PSC. You must take reasonable steps to contact each person and confirm their particulars before entering them on the register. This includes their full name, service address, country of residence, nationality, date of birth, usual residential address, and which of the conditions they meet (including the relevant percentage band).
Enter the information on your internal PSC register. Every company must keep its own PSC register, even if the information is also held at Companies House. The register must never be blank: if you are still investigating, or if no one meets the tests, use the exact wording of the official statements set out in the regulations.
File the information with Companies House. New companies report PSC details on incorporation using form IN01. Existing companies notify changes using PSC forms PSC01 to PSC09. Most filings can be submitted online through the Companies House WebFiling service, which is quicker and gives you immediate confirmation.
Keep everything up to date. When a PSC's circumstances change, when someone becomes or stops being a PSC, or when their percentage band shifts, you have 14 days to update your internal register and a further 14 days to notify Companies House. The annual confirmation statement then confirms the position is current.
A person is a PSC if they meet any one of five tests: holding more than 25% of the shares; holding more than 25% of the voting rights; having the right to appoint or remove most of the board; otherwise having the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control over the company; or having that kind of influence over a trust or firm that itself meets any of the first four conditions. Meeting just one is enough.
Q What are the three percentage bands used on the register?
For shares and voting rights, you record which band a PSC falls into rather than the exact percentage. The bands are: more than 25% but not more than 50%, more than 50% but less than 75%, and 75% or more. If someone's holding moves between bands, that counts as a change you must report to Companies House within the usual timescales.
Q Can a company be a PSC?
Not directly. Only individuals are recorded as PSCs. However, if a company or other legal body meets one of the conditions and is itself subject to the PSC regime (or is listed on certain regulated markets), it can be recorded as a Relevant Legal Entity (RLE). If the legal entity above you is not an RLE, you must look through it to find the individuals who control it.
Q What happens if a company has no PSC?
Your register cannot be left empty. The regulations set out specific statements you must use, for example where the company has confirmed there is no registrable PSC, where investigations are still underway, or where a person has been identified but their details have not yet been confirmed. Using the exact wording matters, because Companies House and the legislation both expect those prescribed forms of words.
Q What are the penalties for getting PSC reporting wrong?
Failure to comply with the PSC regime is a criminal offence for the company and its officers. Consequences can include fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment of up to two years. Companies House can also apply restrictions to shares where a PSC refuses to respond to information requests. Because the register is public, inaccurate filings also create obvious credibility problems with banks and counterparties.
Q Do LLPs and dormant companies have to file PSC information?
Yes. Limited liability partnerships are within the PSC regime, with the conditions adjusted to reflect LLP structures (for example, rights to share in surplus assets rather than shares). Dormant companies are not exempt either. The only companies generally outside the regime are those with voting shares admitted to trading on certain regulated markets, which are already subject to equivalent transparency rules.
Q How quickly do changes need to be reported?
You have 14 days to update your own PSC register once you know of a change, and a further 14 days to notify Companies House. That gives a 28-day outer limit from the event. Relying on the annual confirmation statement alone is not enough, it confirms the register but does not replace the duty to notify changes as they happen.
Ownership structures with trusts, family holdings, or multiple shareholders can make the PSC tests surprisingly tricky to apply. An experienced legal adviser can talk you through the conditions and help you think through how they fit based on what you describe on the call.
✓Plain-English answers to your specific questions about the PSC conditions
✓Practical perspective on who in your structure is likely registrable
✓Guidance tailored to what you describe about your shareholders and control arrangements
✓A clearer view of what to file at Companies House and when
Personal call · For information only · Independent advisers
Written & reviewed by
Brad Askew Solicitor (non-practising)
Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice. LegalDocuments.co.uk is not a law firm and does not provide regulated legal advice.
This article is for general information only. It is a tool to help you find your way — not legal advice, and not a substitute for speaking to a qualified adviser about your situation.
