Suppressing Personal Information From The Public Register
It is soon going to be possible for individuals to ask Companies House to hide their personal information from the public register. The move will be particularly reassuring for directors who may be concerned at rising incidents of identity fraud by criminals using personal information currently publicly available on the public register.
Under the existing Companies (Disclosure of Address Regulations) 2009 (the 2009 Regulations), a company director (or LLP partner) can already apply to have their residential address suppressed. The new Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were recently tabled, and expand the circumstances in which personal information can be hidden view public view.
The draft regulations would allow an individual to apply for the registrar to make the following information unavailable to the public: the day of their date of birth, their signature, and (in the case of current or former directors) their business occupation.
Note that ‘signature’ does not include a printed name. In their application, the applicant must state what information is required to be hidden from the public register – but no reason has to be given.
Also, an application should not be made if the effect of suppressing the name would be that any part of a copy of an order imposing a charge, instrument, deed or debenture delivered under companies law would be made unavailable for public inspection.
The provisions are expected to come into effect on 21 July this year and is a further move in the steady battle against corporate fraud and identity theft in the UK.
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