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The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has publicly issued its support for new reforms focusing on Companies House.
The professional body “welcomed” the increase in powers of the register and a ban of corporate directors within Companies House.
In December, 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) consulted on whether the powers of Companies House should be expanded, allowing the agency to conduct additional background checks on account filings.
Charles Worth, head of business law at ICAEW, said: “There is a risk that transactions such as mergers involving appointments and retirements of directors could be adversely impacted if these depend upon Companies House processing the changes immediately at any hour of night or day so, for instance, requiring there to be no system outages ever.
“We hope that BEIS will find a way to overcome this, whilst also meeting the needs of law enforcement authorities.”
He added: “It is important for the UK economy that businesses remain able to incorporate companies reasonably easily and with a high degree of certainty regarding outcomes.
“A balance therefore needs to be struck, and this will need to be explored further as the proposals are developed.”
