Check company PSC information

The conditions that make someone a PSC

Only one condition needs to be met. A company can have several PSCs, a single PSC, or none, and the same person can meet more than one condition at the same time.

• Holds more than 25% of the shares
• Holds more than 25% of the voting rights
• Has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors
• Otherwise exercises, or has the right to exercise, significant influence or control
• Exercises that influence or control over a trust or firm that itself meets one of the above conditions

What is published for each PSC

• Name, or the name of the relevant legal entity
• The nature of control, expressed as bands such as more than 25% but not more than 50%
• The date the person or entity was notified as a PSC, and the date control ceased where applicable
• Month and year of birth, nationality and country of residence for individuals
• A service address, not a residential address

How to read the control bands

PSC holdings are published in bands rather than exact percentages: more than 25% but not more than 50%, more than 50% but not more than 75%, and 75% or more. The bands are deliberately coarse, and the middle and upper bands matter most, because more than 50% usually means control of ordinary resolutions and 75% or more means control of special resolutions.

Bands are given separately for shares and for voting rights, and the two can differ where a company has multiple share classes. Where someone appears with control over the board rather than a shareholding, the entry will state that instead.

Common entries and what they mean

A company can record that it has no PSC, or that it has not yet identified one, or that a PSC has been identified but details are not yet confirmed. All are legitimate filings in certain circumstances, but each means the register will not currently tell you who is behind the company.

Where a parent company is recorded as a relevant legal entity, you can search that entity in turn to work up the ownership chain. Ceased PSC entries stay on the record with the date control ended, which is useful when you need to know who controlled a company at an earlier point in time.

Why PSC information is checked

This is public register information presented for convenience. It is not a due diligence, anti-money-laundering, sanctions or identity check, and it should not be relied on as one.

• Confirming who ultimately controls a supplier or customer
• Understanding a group structure before a contract or purchase
• Establishing whether two companies share the same controlling person
• Keeping a dated record of ownership as recorded when you dealt with a company

Where PSC information appears on this site

Searching and viewing the company summary is free. PSC records, including ceased entries where they exist, are included in the optional PDF report alongside officers, filings and charges. Every page of the report is dated with the retrieval time, so it stands as a snapshot of what the register said that day.

Free website search compared with the paid PDF report

Searching this site and viewing a company summary is free. The optional PDF report is paid, and what you are paying for is convenience: retrieval, formatting, a dated snapshot and a document you can download and keep. The underlying information is public and is also available directly from Companies House at no charge.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Who Owns a UK CompanyHow UK company ownership is recorded on the public register, the difference between directors, shareholders and persons with significant control, and how to look it up.
• Find Company DirectorsHow to find the directors and secretaries of a UK company, what officer information the public register holds, and how to read appointment and resignation dates.
• UK Company Information ReportSee exactly what the UK Company Information Report contains, how it compares with the free company summary, and when a dated downloadable PDF of register information is worth ordering.
• Sample Company ReportSee the structure of the UK Company Information Report PDF section by section, page by page, so you know exactly what you receive before you order one.
• Check Company StatusWhat UK company status values mean, including active, dissolved, liquidation, administration and proposal to strike off, and how to check the status of a company.
• Company reportsThe optional downloadable PDF report and what it costs.
• Director SearchFind the directors of a UK company recorded at Companies House. Understand what officer records show, appointment and resignation dates, and how to obtain them in a PDF report.