Companies House report shows nearly 4 million identity checks

Companies house has logged nearly 4 million identity verifications since mandatory checks began in November 2025. The new report says the register is becoming more accurate as reform work continues under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

Andy King, the chief executive of Companies House, said, "this report is another powerful indicator of the progress we are making, and are continuing to make, as we transform from a passive register to a trusted guardian of critical data." The report also says 151,000 misleading company addresses have been removed from the register since March 2024.

Companies House and HMRC

Companies House said it has worked more closely with enforcement partners including HMRC and The Insolvency Service. Through those partnerships, millions of pounds in suspected criminal proceeds have been seized, giving the register work a direct link to enforcement action rather than record-keeping alone.

Duncan Beach, chief executive at The Insolvency Service, said, "improving the integrity of the Companies House register is central to our enforcement strategy." The agency says the reforms are part of a broader shift under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which has initiated the most extensive changes in UK company law in nearly 200 years.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Companies House said the act will empower enforcement agencies with more than 100 offences. It also said future work will include a broader rollout of identity verification and a more systematic approach to enforcement, extending the current drive to clean up register data and tighten scrutiny.

For people using the register in business decisions or enforcement work, the immediate change is practical: more identities are being checked, more misleading addresses are being removed, and more data is being pushed toward a state that can be used with greater confidence.