Authorised Corporate Service Providers: What you need to know

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Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) play a key role in enhancing corporate transparency and combatting financial crimes within the UK.

But what are they?

As of 18 March 2025, any third-party provider who conducts identity verification checks on behalf of clients for Companies House is required to register as an ACSP.

In the future, businesses will need to register in order to file on behalf of clients.

Who Needs to Register as an ACSP?

Any individual or organisation that’s engaged in activities supervised under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations need to register as an ACSP. This includes:

  • Accountants
  • Chartered secretaries and governance professionals
  • Company formation agents
  • Solicitors

These entities must be supervised by one of the 25 AML (Anti-Money Laundering) supervisory bodies in the UK, such as HMRC, the Financial Conduct Authority, or the Insolvency Practitioners Association.

All checks must meet the identity verification standard set out by Companies House.

How do you register as a ACSP?

Before registering as an ACSP, you need to have a senior role in the organisation, such as:

  • Director
  • General partner
  • Partner
  • Member

Next, you’ll need to verify your identity with Companies House. Once this has been completed, you’ll need to carry out the following steps:

  1. Sign in to GOV.UK One Login

  2. Give details about the business, or yourself if you’re a sole trader

  3. Give details about the Anti-Money Laundering supervisory bodies the business is registered with

  4. State the AML membership numbers or IDs

  5. Pay the £55.00 registration fee

Once registered, you’ll be able to add additional employees to the ACSP account to carry out the tasks for you.

Additional employees can be added to the ACSP account to carry out these tasks once everything has been approved.

Compliance Obligations

Once registered as an ACSP, there are several legal requirements you must adhere to, including:

  • Maintaining AML supervision: You must stay registered with at least one AML supervisory body

  • Keep information updated: Any changes to information held by Companies House must be reported within 14 days

  • Provide additional information on request: You must give all details and additional information when requested by Companies House

  • Retain records: Records of identity checks must be kept for seven years

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Consequences of Non-Compliance

Failure to comply with your obligations can result in fines, criminal prosecutions, and the suspension/revocation of your ACSP status.

Once your status has been revoked, you will be prohibited from filing or verifying identities for Companies House. This can also result in those who have been verified by the agent requiring to complete verification again (Companies House will contact anyone affected).

How MLVerify can help

Tools like MLVerify can help you remain compliant with these checks, collecting documents remotely, carrying out digital ID checks, and allowing your clients to submit documents with ease.

With secure document storage, you can save all the files in one place, and linked to the relevant clients, too.