When you join the HTH Accountants (family), one of the legal requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive guidelines is to provide us with relevant personal identification information to help us verify that the names of the Directors and Beneficial Owners are who they say they are. This information is held by a central registrar in each EU member state.

In the light of a new Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill in 2021 which is currently being finalised, an additional level of security is being proposed for Directors of new and existing companies.

Going forward, the director of a new company will be required to provide their PPSN (or specified documentation) when incorporating a new company, filing an annual return and when a notification of the change of a director is required.

This provision is aimed at safeguarding the identities of Company Directors, who may be subject to identity fraud to set up fake companies, and the use of registered company addresses for fraudulent or fake businesses.

ISME’s chief executive is reported as saying; “No organisation is immune from the threat of fraud. However, in Ireland, many of them appear to suffer from the mindset of ‘it can’t happen here’.”

HTH Accountants feel that it is important to plan for the future and protect all of our clients and we will be taking the necessary steps to protect the Directors and business owners in our database. When we know more about this new Bill, we will let you know.