Directors at head office still need to verify with Companies House

Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been a legal requirement for directors and people with significant control of UK companies, under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. New directors must verify before they are appointed. Directors and PSCs already on the register were given a twelve-month transition, which ends on 17 November 2026.

How the transition works

In practice, the company confirms that its directors are verified when it files its next confirmation statement, by giving each person's Companies House personal code. A company whose confirmation statement falls late in the year does not get extra time: everyone in scope needs to be verified by the end of the transition.

Who is easy to miss

For the UK subsidiary of an international group, the directors are often at head office: a group CFO in Frankfurt, a general counsel in Paris. Residence and nationality make no difference. They are in scope exactly as a UK-resident director would be, and acting as a director without verification is an offence.

Two routes

Each individual can verify directly through GOV.UK One Login, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Verification is done once per person, not once per company. The personal code is then used for every appointment that person holds.

What we suggest now

• List every director and individual PSC across your UK entities, with each company's confirmation statement date.
• Check who already has a personal code.
• Agree the route for each person, and who will file for each company.
• Do not leave head-office directors to the week of the deadline.

As an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, THOTH can verify directors, including those based abroad, and file for the company, for a fixed fee.