Business Bites: The Confirmation Statement is Coming.

Welcome to the next instalment of Business Bites. If you’ve been following the Business Bites series, you will be aware that there are a lot of changes afoot in terms of the implementation of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. 

The next major change comes into effect on 30 June 2016 when the annual return will be replaced with the Confirmation Statement (CS).

In many respects, the CS is very similar to the annual return.  It will require to be filed at least once a year and confirms the current details of a company or LLP.

However, you should note the following key points:

• The CS must be filed within 14 days of the confirmation statement date, however it can be filed multiple times throughout the year, whilst only paying one annual filing fee.  For companies and LLPs incorporated prior to 30 June 2016, the confirmation statement date will be the one year anniversary of the made up date of the last annual return.
   
• The CS will include details of the company’s/LLP’s persons with significant control (remember: all UK companies and LLPs are required to maintain a PSC Register from 6 April this year).
   
• The statement itself will simply confirm the number, name and the confirmation date of the company/LLP.  However, additional information pages will be required for the first CS, and if any changes have been made to the company’s PSCs, shareholding or principal business activities since the last CS.
   
• The CS will contain a simplified statement of capital, with only details of the aggregate amount of unpaid shares including share premium being required. 

In conjunction with the above changes, the current Companies House incorporation forms will be altered to include details of initial PSCs.  Current SH forms relating to changes to a company’s share capital will also be updated.

It is worth noting that the paper versions of the new CS forms are significantly bulkier than their predecessors, comprising 65 pages for companies, and 55 pages for LLPs.  However, the Davidson Chalmers corporate team can file your CS for you using electronic filing software.  If you would like assistance with filing your confirmation statement, simply get in touch at companysecretary@davidsonchalmers.com for more information about our secretarial services.

Disclaimer 
The matter in this publication is based on our current understanding of the law.  The information provides only an overview of the law in force at the date hereof and has been produced for general information purposes only. Professional advice should always be sought before taking any action in reliance of the information. Accordingly, Davidson Chalmers LLP does not take any responsibility for losses incurred by any person through acting or failing to act on the basis of anything contained in this publication.