By
August 30, 2026
Under the current rules, an ordinary UK limited company must maintain its own register of members, also known as the register of shareholders.
Since 18 November 2025, companies are no longer required to maintain separate internal registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, company secretaries or people with significant control. However, this information must still be reported to Companies House and kept up to date.
Additional registers or inspection records may be required depending on the company’s activities, financing arrangements and whether it is a private or public company.
A statutory register is an official company record required by legislation.
Statutory registers provide evidence of matters such as:
These records are separate from the public information maintained by Companies House.
A confirmation statement does not replace the company’s obligation to maintain its own register of members.
For most private companies limited by shares, the principal statutory register that must now be maintained internally is the:
Depending on the company’s circumstances, it may also have:
The company must also retain statutory records such as meeting minutes, resolutions and certain directors’ contracts, although these are not all technically described as registers.
The register of members is the company’s legal record of its shareholders.
It should generally show:
Where shares are jointly owned, the register should contain the names of all joint holders.
For a company limited by guarantee, the register records the company’s members rather than shareholders and shareholdings.
The register of members is generally the primary legal evidence of who is a member of the company.
Other documents may support ownership, including:
However, those documents do not replace the register of members.
If a share transfer has been agreed and paid for but the new owner has not been entered in the register, the legal ownership position can become more complicated. This may affect voting, dividends, company sales and shareholder disputes.
No.
Companies House collects information about shareholders through incorporation documents, confirmation statements and share filings. However, the public register may not show every change immediately and is not a substitute for the company’s statutory register.
The company’s register of members should provide the complete ownership history required by law.
Companies should therefore update both:
Before 18 November 2025, companies were generally required to keep several internal registers, including registers of directors, secretaries and people with significant control.
From 18 November 2025, companies no longer need to maintain separate registers of:
The information must instead be provided to Companies House and kept current on the central register.
The company must still maintain its own register of members. Companies House explains the changes in its guidance on company registers.
Yes.
Removal of the internal register requirement does not remove the obligation to tell Companies House about directors.
The company must continue reporting matters such as:
New directors may also need to complete identity verification and provide a Companies House personal code.
The company should report changes within the applicable statutory deadline rather than waiting for its next confirmation statement.
A company is no longer required to keep its own separate PSC register.
However, it must still:
A company cannot leave its PSC information blank merely because no individual owns more than 25% of the shares. It must determine whether another PSC condition applies or submit the appropriate statement explaining its position.
A person may qualify as a PSC if they meet one or more statutory conditions, including:
The beneficial owner and the registered shareholder may not always be the same person. Nominee arrangements, trusts and corporate ownership structures may therefore require additional analysis.
No separate internal register of company secretaries is required under the rules in force since 18 November 2025.
However, if the company appoints a secretary, the appointment and required details must be reported to Companies House.
A company secretary is optional for most private companies but generally required for public limited companies.
A debenture is an instrument that acknowledges or creates company debt. It may be secured against the company’s assets.
A company is not necessarily required to create a register of debenture holders simply because it borrows money. However, if it maintains such a register, statutory inspection and copy requirements can apply.
The register may contain:
Companies that issue debentures or grant security should obtain advice on their specific recordkeeping and Companies House filing obligations.
The current regime primarily requires qualifying charges to be registered with Companies House and the relevant charge instruments to be retained and made available where required.
A company may also have an older statutory register of charges relating to security created under previous legislation. Historical registers and documents should not be discarded merely because the filing regime has changed.
Relevant documents can include:
Most registrable charges must be submitted to Companies House within a limited period after their creation.
Public limited companies may have additional recordkeeping obligations that do not normally apply to private companies.
Depending on the circumstances, these may include:
A listed company may also have obligations under financial-services, stock-exchange and market-abuse rules.
A company may hold historical registers created before the law changed, including:
The fact that some registers are no longer required to be actively maintained does not necessarily mean the old records should be destroyed immediately.
Historical records may still be relevant to:
The company should apply the relevant statutory retention periods and take professional advice before destroying historical registers.
Private companies were previously able to elect to keep certain member information on the central Companies House register.
That option ended on 26 January 2026.
A company that previously used the central register must now:
The company should review the transition carefully to ensure that no ownership information is missing.
The register of members and other eligible inspection records must normally be kept at:
A SAIL address must be:
For example, a company registered in Scotland cannot use a SAIL address in England.
A company may keep some eligible records at the registered office and others at its SAIL address.
However, an individual record should normally be kept in one location. It should not be divided between the registered office and the SAIL address.
The company must notify Companies House about:
Yes. Statutory registers can generally be maintained electronically if they:
Using a spreadsheet or company secretarial platform does not automatically make a register compliant. The information, access arrangements and update procedures must still satisfy the legal requirements.
Members and members of the public can generally request access to the register of members.
A request should normally state:
The company may apply to a court if it believes the request is not made for a proper purpose. It should not ignore a valid request or reject it without following the statutory procedure.
Some other records have narrower inspection rights and may only be available to company members or specified persons.
Not necessarily.
The register of members generally identifies the legal or registered shareholder. If a nominee shareholder holds shares for another person, the nominee may appear in the register of members.
The beneficial owner may instead need to be identified through:
A nominee arrangement does not remove the obligation to identify and report the person who ultimately owns or controls the company when the PSC rules apply.
The register should be updated when events such as the following occur:
Supporting documents should be checked before the register is amended.
A company should not change its ownership record solely on the basis of an informal instruction if the necessary transfer, board approval, payment or legal documentation is incomplete.
Although not all are called registers, companies may also need to retain:
Meeting minutes and shareholder resolutions are generally retained for at least ten years.
No. Accounting records are legally required company records, but they are not normally described as statutory registers.
Accounting records include:
They can generally be kept at a location chosen by the directors, provided they remain secure and accessible to the company’s officers.
The company’s directors are responsible for ensuring that required registers and records are accurate and properly maintained.
An accountant, solicitor, company secretary or formation agent may perform the administrative work, but the directors remain legally responsible.
Directors should regularly check that:
Failure to maintain required records can result in:
An inaccurate register of members can be particularly damaging because it creates uncertainty over who is entitled to vote, receive dividends or sell the company.
A private limited company should confirm that it has:
No. Since 18 November 2025, a company does not need its own separate register of directors. Director information must still be filed with Companies House.
No separate internal PSC register is now required, but the company must identify its PSCs and report accurate information to Companies House.
Yes. A limited company must maintain its own register of members, including companies that previously elected to keep member information at Companies House.
No. The company must maintain its own complete register of members.
Yes, if the legal location and inspection requirements are satisfied. The directors remain responsible for its accuracy.
Yes. A dormant company must still maintain the statutory records relevant to its structure.
A share certificate is evidence of ownership, but the register of members is generally the primary legal record of membership.
Under the current UK rules, the essential statutory register for an ordinary private limited company is its register of members.
Since 18 November 2025, companies no longer need to maintain separate internal registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries or people with significant control. That information must still be reported to Companies House and kept accurate.
Depending on its activities, a company may also maintain a register of debenture holders, historical charge records or additional registers required for public companies. All relevant records should be accurate, secure and available for inspection at the registered office or registered SAIL address.
