What Is a PSC? Understanding People with Significant Control

If you have ever searched for a UK company on Companies House and noticed a section labelled "People with Significant Control", you may have wondered what it means and why it is there. The PSC register is one of the most important transparency tools in UK company law. For accountants, compliance officers, and anyone conducting due diligence on a business, knowing how to read it is a core skill.

This guide explains what a PSC is, who qualifies, where to find the information, and how to use it in practice.

What Does PSC Stand For?

PSC stands for Person with Significant Control. It refers to any individual (or in some cases, a legal entity) that holds a significant level of ownership or control over a UK company. The underlying principle is straightforward: whoever ultimately owns or controls a company should be publicly identifiable, even if the registered shareholders are nominees or holding companies.

The PSC framework is part of the UK's beneficial ownership regime - the set of rules designed to make it harder to hide the true owners of a business.

The Legal Background

The requirement to maintain a PSC register was introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and came into force on 6 April 2016. It implemented the EU's Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive into UK law, though the UK has retained the framework since Brexit.

The rules are set out in Schedule 1A of the Companies Act 2006 (as amended). Companies are required to identify their PSCs, keep an internal PSC register, and file that information with Companies House, where it becomes part of the public record.

Failure to comply is a criminal offence. Directors who do not take reasonable steps to identify PSCs, or who file false information, can face fines or prosecution.

The Five Conditions That Make Someone a PSC

A person qualifies as a PSC if they meet one or more of the following five conditions in relation to a company:

Owns more than 25% of the shares. This is measured by the nominal value of shares held, directly or indirectly.
Holds more than 25% of the voting rights. Voting rights attached to shares, including rights exercisable in specific circumstances.
Has the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors. This captures control exercised through governance rather than ownership alone.
Has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the company. This is intentionally broad - it catches people who do not technically meet the first three conditions but who hold effective control in practice.
Has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over a trust or firm which itself meets one of the first four conditions. This prevents beneficial owners from hiding behind trusts or partnerships.

Note the thresholds: the first two conditions use a "more than 25%" test. Owning exactly 25% does not qualify - the holding must exceed that figure.

Who Has to File PSC Information?

The requirement applies to a wide range of legal entities:

All UK private limited companies (Ltd)
All UK public limited companies (PLC), except those listed on a regulated market
Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) and Scottish Qualifying Partnerships (SQPs)

Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's main market or AIM are exempt, because they are already subject to disclosure rules under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

If a company has no PSC - for example, because ownership is genuinely distributed across many shareholders each holding 25% or less - it must still file a statement confirming that no PSC has been identified, rather than leaving the register blank.

How to Find PSC Data on Companies House

PSC information is publicly available and free to access. Here is how to find it:

Go to www.companieshouse.gov.uk.
Enter the company name or registration number in the search bar.
Open the company profile page.
Select the "People" tab. This shows both officers (directors, secretaries) and people with significant control.
Scroll down to the "Persons with significant control" section.

You can also access PSC data programmatically via the Companies House API, which is useful if you are screening large volumes of companies for due diligence or compliance purposes.

What the PSC Register Shows

Each PSC entry on Companies House typically contains the following fields:

Name - the full legal name of the individual or entity
Date of birth - the month and year only (the day is suppressed for privacy)
Nationality
Country of residence
Address - a service address, not necessarily a home address
Nature of control - which of the five conditions applies, expressed in bands (e.g., "Ownership of shares - 25% to 50%", "Ownership of voting rights - 75% to 100%")
Notified on - the date the company notified Companies House of this PSC
Ceased - if the person is no longer a PSC, the date they ceased to be one

The nature of control is shown in percentage bands rather than exact figures: 25% to 50%, 50% to 75%, or 75% to 100%. This means you can identify approximate ownership levels but not the precise stake.

What If There Is No PSC Listed?

An absent or unusual PSC entry deserves careful attention. There are a few legitimate explanations:

No PSC identified - the company has filed a statement confirming that no individual meets the five conditions. This is legitimate for genuinely widely-held businesses.
PSC is an RLE (Relevant Legal Entity) - another UK company or LLP is listed as the PSC instead of an individual. This is permitted where the intermediate company is itself subject to PSC disclosure requirements.
PSC details protected - in rare cases (e.g., risk of violence or intimidation), an individual can apply to suppress their details from the public register.

However, a missing PSC entry can also be a red flag:

A "no PSC" statement on a company that clearly has a dominant individual shareholder
An RLE chain that leads to an opaque offshore holding company
PSC data that has not been updated despite changes in the share register
A company registered recently that has still not filed any PSC information

For a broader overview of what company filings can reveal, see our guide to how to check a UK company.

PSC Checks in AML and Due Diligence Workflows

For regulated professionals - particularly accountants, solicitors, estate agents, and financial advisers - identifying the beneficial owner of a client entity is a legal obligation under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs).

The PSC register is a primary source for this. Your customer due diligence (CDD) process for a corporate client should include:

Pulling the PSC register entry from Companies House
Verifying the PSC's identity through independent documentation (passport, utility bill, or electronic verification)
Screening the PSC's name against sanctions lists and PEP (Politically Exposed Person) databases
Documenting your findings in your client file

It is worth noting that the PSC register is a self-reported register - Companies House does not independently verify the information. You must treat it as a starting point for due diligence, not a definitive confirmation of ownership. Cross-referencing with the share register, corporate filings, and other open-source intelligence is best practice.

For a detailed walkthrough of how accountants should structure their AML process, see our article on AML checks for accountants.

Common Questions About PSCs

Can a company be a PSC?

Yes. A company or LLP can be registered as a PSC if it meets one of the five conditions and is itself subject to its own disclosure requirements. This is known as a Relevant Legal Entity (RLE). The rationale is that if the intermediate entity is already transparent, you can follow the chain upward rather than requiring every level to file separately. However, if the chain leads to an overseas company not subject to equivalent disclosure, you need to identify the individual(s) behind it.

What about trusts?

Trusts are covered by the fifth PSC condition. If a trust holds shares in a company and the trustee(s) exercise significant influence or control over it, the individuals behind the trust may need to be disclosed as PSCs. Trusts themselves cannot be PSCs because they are not legal entities - it is the individuals (trustees, settlors, or beneficiaries with control) who are captured.

Can a PSC request that their details be hidden?

In very limited circumstances, yes. Individuals at serious risk of violence or intimidation can apply to have their details protected. This is rare and requires evidence of a genuine threat.

What is the penalty for not filing PSC information?

Failing to maintain or file a PSC register is a criminal offence. Directors can face fines or prosecution. The company can also be struck off the register for persistent non-compliance.