No registered owner: what the PSC check means
What it means when a company has no person with significant control on the register, the legitimate exemptions, and when it is a warning sign.
- Severity
- High
- Category
- Governance
- Plan
- Free and above
- Test code
- GOV-030
What this test checks
Checks whether the company has registered any persons with significant control, the individuals or companies that own or control it. Since 2016 most UK companies must keep this register and file it at Companies House.
The test recognises legitimate reasons for having none: companies listed on a regulated market are exempt, and a company can file a statement that it has no registrable person, for example when its shares are widely held. It raises a warning when only corporate owners are registered, because ownership then cannot be traced to a named person from this company's record alone.
What a fail looks like
No person with significant control and no statement explaining why. You cannot see from the register who owns or controls the company.
Harmless explanations
- Listed companies and some widely held companies legitimately have no registrable person.
- A newly incorporated company may still be completing its first filings.
What to do
- Ask the company who owns and controls it, and for evidence.
- If only corporate owners are registered, follow the chain to the companies above it.
Background: Persons with significant control.
Related tests
- GOV-053Corporate PSC Without Registration Number
- GOV-056Corporate PSC Trust-Held Control
- GOV-040Significant Influence Without Ownership
- COM-021ECCTA PSC Verification Overdue
Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.
Last reviewed .