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Jordans FAQs: Will the new central registry of company beneficial ownership information be made public?

6th Jan 2014
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Jordans Limited has a new name – we are now Vistra.

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Will the new central registry of company beneficial ownership information be made public?

On 31 October 2013, the government announced that in addition to implementing its commitment to create a new central registry of company beneficial ownership information, it has also decided to make the new register publicly accessible. The government outlined its proposals relating to the new registry and sought views on whether the information held by the registry should be made public, in a discussion paper on increasing trust and enhancing transparency of UK company ownership that was published by BIS in July 2013.

BIS will publish a formal response to the discussion paper in early 2014, which will include further details regarding the information on beneficial ownership to be held by companies and Companies House and the process for updating that information. In the meantime, the government has indicated that: 

  • It will potentially use, as a model, the disclosure regime that currently applies in relation to disclosure of information on company shareholders. This would mean that companies would hold information on the names and addresses of their beneficial owners and details of their interest in the company. Companies House would hold and make publicly accessible the names of the beneficial owners and details of their interest in the company.
  • There will be limited exemptions from public disclosure, such as where it is necessary to protect individuals whose safety might be put at risk.

In its government response, BIS will also set out its plans on other proposals from the Transparency and Trust discussion paper including:

  • to abolish bearer shares – i.e. shares whose ownership is completely opaque;
  • to tackle the use of corporate directors – one company as a director of another; and
  • to address situations where a front director is registered at Companies House, but the control lies concealed elsewhere. 

​For more information, visit Jordan's official website.

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