ECCTA 2023

ECCTA Identity Verification

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 requires all UK company directors and individual PSCs to verify their identity with Companies House. Enforcement begins 18 November 2026. Registrum surfaces verification status in a single API call.

Nov 2025
Mandatory from
All directors & individual PSCs
Who must verify
Nov 2026
Enforcement

Check any company’s ECCTA status

Enter a Companies House company number to see the verification snapshot.

What is ECCTA identity verification?

What changed

ECCTA 2023 introduced mandatory identity verification via the Companies House digital portal. Directors must photograph their face and identity document; CH issues an 11-character personal code (UVID) on success. Verified status is publicly visible on the CH register.

Who must verify

All directors of UK limited companies, PLCs, and LLPs. All individual PSCs (Persons with Significant Control) who are natural persons. Corporate entity and legal person PSCs are exempt. Sole traders are not affected.

Enforcement timeline
April 2025
Voluntary verification opens
November 2025
Legally mandatory for new appointments
November 2026
Enforcement begins

What the API returns

GET /v1/company/{number}/compliance

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "company_number": "10892514",
    "directors_total": 3,
    "directors_verified": 2,
    "directors_unverified": 1,
    "directors_unknown": 0,
    "pscs_total": 1,
    "pscs_verified": 1,
    "pscs_unverified": 0,
    "pscs_unknown": 0,
    "verification_rate": 0.75,
    "verification_risk": "partial",
    "unverified_persons": [
      {
        "name": "SMITH, John",
        "role": "director",
        "kind": "director"
      }
    ],
    "eccta_enforcement_deadline": "2026-11-18"
  },
  "cached": false,
  "credits_used": 1
}
FieldTypeDescription
verification_riskstring"compliant" | "partial" | "high_risk" | "unknown"
verification_ratefloatverified / (verified + unverified). Unknowns excluded from denominator.
directors_verifiedintCurrent directors with a confirmed identity_verified_on date at Companies House.
directors_unverifiedintVerification details present but no verified date — started but not complete.
directors_unknownintidentity_verification_details entirely absent from CH API — pre-ECCTA data.
unverified_personsarrayOnly persons with identity_verified=false. Unknowns (null) are excluded.
eccta_enforcement_deadlinestringAlways 2026-11-18 — the date Companies House begins enforcement action.
Plan availability

The /compliance endpoint requires a Pro or Enterprise plan. The identity_verified and identity_verified_on fields on the existing directors and PSC endpoints are available on all plans.

Start monitoring ECCTA compliance

Get a free API key and check verification status on your first call. No credit card required.