Firms advised to ensure Companies House data is correct

Any of our clients which has enjoyed an FCA licence for over a year will be familiar with the Firm Details Attestation form. Every year (within 60 business days after year end to be precise) firms must review and confirm various details are correct using this form (such as address, website, contacts, auditors, year end) or amend as necessary. There is a £250 fee for late submission.

From later this year, the FCA will begin rolling out an 'enhanced' version of this Form. One of the key changes is that FCA will be using Companies House records for their systems, as Companies House is the official repository for certain information. This includes registered name, office address, and financial year-end.

As such, firms are advised to urgently review their Companies House information and update as necessary now. Failure to do this could delay the Firm Details Attestation process and result in fines.

In our view, there will be hundreds of Directors or firms caught out by this, mainly because Companies House isn't policed properly at this point.

The FCA have intimated there will be 'validation' processes, including for contact details such as emails, phone numbers and addresses. Firms who simply 'box tick' the form may be caught out here, even if they have just inadvertently misspelt an email or phone number.

Errors on Companies House are low-hanging fruit and a great excuse for the FCA to make life difficult for firms and Directors; if you can't keep Companies House updated, what might that say about your control framework?

Do not give the FCA an opportunity to use up your time, energy and resource. We would urge you to check your data now and ensure this remains correct.