ACSP FAQS

This article provides common FAQs for ACSP's. If you are using Credas for your director verification, we also recommend reading the following articles as well to understand how the Credas director verification and results work:

• Companies House Director Verification Overview
• Companies House Journey Results

1. What is an ACSP?

ACSPs are individuals/organisations that undertake anti-money laundering (AML) supervised activity such as company formation agents, accounts or solicitors. Depending on the services your organisation offers to your clients, you may need to register as an ACSP registration. Example services include, but are not limited too, submitting applications to register companies, filing confirmation statements and preparing annual accounts. In addition to this, to carry our identity checks on behalf of your clients and let Companies House know you have verified someone's identity, you will need to become an ACSP. To find out more on how to become an ACSP, please read the governments guidance here: Authorised Corporate Service Providers - Changes to UK company law.

2. Who's identities need to be verified?

The EECTA requires mandatory identity verification requirements for:

• All new and existing company directors
• Persons with Significant Control (PSCs)
• Members of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP)
• Anyone submitting documents to file at Companies House  

3. What steps do ACSPs need to follow to verify a directors identity? 

Their are five steps ACSPs will need to follow to satisfy Companies House requirements. These steps are:

1) Ask for information about the person such as their current name, any previous names, address history and an email address Companies House can use to contact them.

2) Get evidence to verify the person's identity (please see our Q5 below on which documents are needed)

3) Check the evidence is real - ACSPs can either choose to do this manually in person which requires evidence that the staff have been trained and you are limited to Option 2 of acceptable documents below, or use Identity Verification Technology such as Credas who can obtain documents from both Option 1 and 2.

4) Check it is a real identity and it belongs to the person claiming it by comparing the evidence submitted with the details known about them.

5) Keep records of the identity checks for 7 years.

More details on these five steps and how Credas fits in with those steps here. Once these steps have been satisfied, the ACSP will need to provide that information to Companies House (more on this in Q7 below).

4. Does Credas have journeys for director verification?

Yes, Credas offers two journeys for ACSP's, these are explained further here.

5. What identity documents are needed for verification?

There are 2 options that can be used for identity verification as per Companies House requirements. 

• Option 1 - This option can only be used if an ACSP is using an IDVT (such as Credas) who can validate the cryptographic features of the document
•  Option 2 - For option 2, the individual will need to provide two documents in total to complete the check. They must provide either:
  • 2 documents from the Option 2 - Group A list; or
  • 1 document from Group A, and 1 document from the Option 2 - Group B

Please see the table below which lists the documents available for each option:

Please note - if you are using Credas for director verification, please refer to the list of documents we can verify here. 

6. Is there a guide from Companies House for the verification process?

Yes, there are various governments guides available which can be found below:

• How to meet Companies House identity verification standard - GOV.UK 
• Tell Companies House you have verified someone's identity - GOV.UK 

7. What is the process once an ACSP has verified a directors identity? 

Once an ACSP has verified the directors identity (via using a third-party software such as Credas, or manually verifying the director identity themselves), the ACSP will need to log into the Companies House portal (Sign in to Companies House - Companies House - GOV.UK). The ACSP will need to manually enter the directors verification details which includes:

• The individuals personal information
• Details of the identity document used for verification
• The directors email address

To understand in more detail what an ACSP needs to provide to Companies House, please refer to Companies House guide here - Tell Companies House you have verified someone's identity - GOV.UK. 

The ACSP will also need retain a record, of the identity verification for seven years, including copies of the documents, as required by regulation - this includes records for failed verification's.

Once the information has been submitted, Companies House will send an email to the director confirming that their identity has been verified. This email will contain a unique code (11 characters and not to be confused with the registration code Credas supplies the individual when verifying the identity with Credas) which the director will need when transacting with Companies House i.e. filing new accounts. If a director uses an ACSP for these services, they must share this code with their ACSP to enable those transactions.

8. Once the director code is generated, does the ACSP get the code as well? 

Once an individuals identity has been confirmed on Companies House (via the director verifying their identity with Companies House directly or an ACSP filing the information), the code will be issued to the director. It will then be up to the director to share this code with whomever they wish to file documents on their behalf. 

9. Can ACSPs charge for the IDV process?

Yes, there is nothing in the guidelines stopping ACSPs from charging their clients for this service, covering the costs of running the checks and verifying documents.  Credas offers a new payment solution that would allow you to charge individuals as part of the Credas verification. Please get in touch with our sales team (sales@credas.com) if you would like to discuss this further. 

Got any questions? 

If you have any questions please reach out to the Credas support team by contacting us here

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