Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what procedures are used by Companies House to verify the authenticity of company directors, secretaries and registered addresses.

Companies House does not have powers to verify the authenticity of company directors, secretaries and registered office addresses. However, it does carry out a number of checks on all information received; ensuring it is valid, complete, correctly formatted and in compliance with company filing requirements. The obligation to ensure the information is accurate lies with the company and its directors. An offence is committed by the company if it files false information. Companies House maintains one of the most open and extensively accessed companies’ register in the world. It is a powerful tool in identifying false, inaccurate or possibly fraudulent information. With many eyes viewing the data, errors, omissions or worse can be identified and reported.