Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP): the UK guide
What an ACSP is, which firms can register, how Companies House identity verification works in practice, and what the transition ending 18 November 2026 means for a client base with staggered confirmation dates.
By Mehmood Rajoka · Last updated 2026-08-12
TL;DR: Quick Summary
- •An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) is a firm registered with Companies House to verify identities on other people's behalf, introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
- •Only firms already supervised for anti-money laundering can register: accountants, solicitors, and trust or company service providers.
- •Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, starting a 12-month transition that ends on 18 November 2026.
- •Directors must verify before their company's next confirmation statement, or the filing is rejected. People with significant control verify by their own due date.
- •An ACSP must keep records of every identity check it carries out for seven years.
Answer-first summary
What is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider?
An Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) is a firm registered with Companies House to verify identities on behalf of others and to file as a registered agent. The role was created by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 as part of the reform of the companies register. Registration is restricted to firms already supervised for anti-money laundering, which in practice means accountancy practices, law firms, and trust or company service providers.
- Created by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
- Only AML-supervised firms may register
- Verifies directors, PSCs and members for Companies House
- Seven-year record-keeping duty for every check
Who can register as an ACSP
The gate is anti-money-laundering supervision. A firm without an AML supervisor cannot register, whatever volume of company work it handles:
AML-supervised firms only
Registration is open to individuals and organisations carrying out anti-money-laundering supervised activity. In practice that means accountancy practices, law firms, and trust or company service providers. A firm with no AML supervisor cannot become an ACSP, whatever else it does.
Accountants and bookkeepers
Practices supervised by HMRC, ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, or AAT. Most practices that already file for clients at Companies House fall in scope, because filing on someone's behalf is exactly what the regime now attaches identity duties to.
Solicitors and legal practices
Firms supervised by the SRA or an equivalent body. Company formation and corporate secretarial work bring the same identity obligations as they do for accountants.
Trust and company service providers
TCSPs are squarely in scope. Company formation agents are among the intended targets of the regime, since incorporation was the point at which unverified identities historically entered the register.
What an ACSP actually does
Five duties, and the last one is the one most often missed:
- 1Verify the identity of directors, people with significant control, and members who need to be verified for Companies House.
- 2Confirm each completed check to Companies House through the 'Tell Companies House you've verified someone's identity' service.
- 3File on behalf of clients as a registered agent, which from the end of the transition requires the underlying identities to be verified.
- 4Keep evidence of every identity check for seven years, in a form that can be produced if Companies House or an AML supervisor asks.
- 5Apply the firm's own AML controls alongside the Companies House checks, because the two obligations are separate and neither discharges the other.
The identity verification timeline
The dates that matter, and why the middle one is the difficult part:
18 November 2025 — the requirement starts
Identity verification became a legal requirement. This date is the start of a transition, not a deadline: it opened a 12-month window for existing companies to bring directors and PSCs into compliance.
Through the transition — verify by your own due date
Each director must verify before the company's next confirmation statement. People with significant control verify by their own due date. Because confirmation-statement dates are staggered, every client has a different deadline, which is what makes this hard to manage by memory.
18 November 2026 — the transition closes
The 12-month window ends. From that point the expectation is that directors and PSCs on the register are verified, and filings that depend on unverified identities are rejected.
Five mistakes practices are making
Drawn from the questions accountancy and law firms are asking most often during the transition:
Assuming existing AML customer due diligence already satisfies Companies House. It does not: the Companies House check is a separate identity-verification duty with its own evidence and its own confirmation step.
Tracking client deadlines by memory or spreadsheet. Confirmation-statement dates are staggered across a client base, so a practice with 200 clients has 200 different due dates rather than one.
Treating the 18 November 2025 date as the deadline. It was the start of the transition; the closing date is 18 November 2026.
Verifying the director but overlooking people with significant control, who have their own verification obligation and their own due date.
Keeping identity evidence only as long as the AML retention period the firm is used to. The Companies House requirement is seven years and applies specifically to checks carried out as an ACSP.
FAQ
Answer-first summary
What is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)?
An Authorised Corporate Service Provider is a firm registered with Companies House to verify people's identities on their behalf and to file as a registered agent. The role was created by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Registration is open only to individuals and organisations that already carry out anti-money-laundering supervised activity, which in practice means accountants, solicitors, and trust or company service providers.
Answer-first summary
Who can register as an ACSP?
Only firms supervised by a UK anti-money-laundering supervisory body. That includes practices supervised by HMRC, ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, AAT, the SRA, and equivalent bodies. A firm that is not AML supervised cannot register, regardless of its size or how much company filing work it does.
Answer-first summary
What is the deadline for Companies House identity verification?
Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, which started a 12-month transition period ending on 18 November 2026. Within that window each director must verify before their company's next confirmation statement, and people with significant control verify by their own due date. Because confirmation-statement dates are staggered, the practical deadline differs for every client.
Answer-first summary
Do I have to use an ACSP to verify my identity?
No. An individual can verify directly with Companies House using GOV.UK One Login. Using an ACSP is the alternative route, and it is the one most relevant to accountancy and law firms, who are often asked to handle verification for clients they already act for.
Answer-first summary
Does AML customer due diligence count as Companies House identity verification?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. CDD under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and identity verification for Companies House are separate obligations with separate evidence requirements. A firm may collect similar documents for both, but the Companies House check must be carried out and confirmed through its own service, and neither obligation discharges the other.
Answer-first summary
How long must an ACSP keep identity verification records?
Seven years for any identity check carried out for Companies House purposes. This sits alongside, and is longer than, the five-year retention that MLR 2017 Regulation 40 requires for AML customer due diligence records, so a firm acting as an ACSP needs to be clear about which retention period applies to which evidence.
Answer-first summary
What happens if a director does not verify their identity?
The company's next confirmation statement will be rejected. Beyond the filing consequence, failing to verify where required is an offence under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and the register is designed to make unverified appointments visible.
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Use it to explain the requirement to clients and capture clean notes before the work becomes harder to evidence.
ContinueQuality standard for this guide
- Maps the topic to the UK AML framework rather than treating it as a generic compliance concept.
- Separates what the regulation requires from what a practical firm workflow should evidence.
- Links the topic to adjacent decisions, so readers can move from learning into implementation.
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