The Confirmation Statement came into effect on 30th June 2016 replacing the old Annual Return. The Confirmation Statement was introduced as part of The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act (SBEE).
All incorporated companies were previously required to file an annual return that covers specific information about the company including the registered office address, director details, 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.
There is no preset date in the year when a company must file its confirmation statement. Instead the company must ensure that no more than 12 months passes 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 statutory filing fee for a Confirmation Statement (at the time of writing) is £13. This filing fee will cover any subsequent Confirmation Statements filed within the 12 months following payment of the fee.
The Confirmation Statement will be much like the previous Annual Return but will include some other disclosures such as the requirement to list the People with Significant Control (PSCs).
The key parts of the Confirmation Statement are as follows:
- The date of review
- SIC Industry classification codes
- Statement of capital
- Shareholdings
- Persons of Significant Control (PSCs)
- A declaration that all filings are up to date
The new People with Significant Control (PSC) section was introduced as a way to enhance corporate transparency by requiring companies to disclose all those individuals who yield significant influence or control over the company. These individuals will typically be shareholders or voting members with over 25% control. However there are further provisions that require a company to list other people or legal entities that may otherwise influence control.
The new Confirmation Statement became effective from 30th June 2016.