This may not be what you were expecting Money Matters to address in this first article of 2024, but it is potentially a subject that will affect many of us. Certainly all those of us that are in business will feel its impact.

For many years the government has struggled to combat what it calls ‘economic crime’. This is largely where other people attempt to change your business identity without your authority.

Twelve months ago, the government introduced a public register of organisations operating in this country that are registered overseas. We had to deal with it for some of our clients and, for the moment at least, it appears to be a register for the sake of a register rather than a major deterrent. But we shall see in due course whether it really has teeth.

‘One of the most significant moments... in our long history’

This year, the government is turning its attention to UK business and has introduced the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The exact date it will become law is still to be determined, but we have been promised that some of it will apply in the next few months. Most of it relates to the filing of documents at Companies House who have detailed it as ‘one of the most significant moments... in our long history’.

There will be a new layer of ID verification for new and existing directors, and it will be extended to cover people filing on behalf of others – accountancy firms, for example. As with all these checks, which have become part of our daily working life, it’s fine if it works straightforwardly, but if it doesn’t, technology will drive us to distraction, as it does already!

Will Companies House allocate the necessary resources?

None of us mind additional security if it achieves an additional level of protection for ourselves and our finances. Companies House is promising greater checks of what is filed on its register. That would be good, but will they allocate the resources to deliver on promises such as these? They need to if they are going to make it work.

We’ll hear more about this in due course, I’m sure, but in the meantime let’s return to the present and wish all readers a Happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.