Part 1: Companies House Reform Who may deliver documents Section 72: Delivery of documents: identity verification etc
This section inserts section 1067A into the Companies Act 2006. Section 1067A sets out who is permitted to deliver documents to the Registrar, including restricting permission to those who have their identity verified, or are registered as an authorised corporate service provider.
	Section 1067A(1) provides the requirements of delivery of documents on a person’s own behalf. Subsection (1)(a) provides that an individual who delivers a document to the Registrar on their own behalf must have their identity verified, and under subsection (1)(b) the document must be accompanied by a statement confirming their verified status. Subsection (2) provides the requirements of delivery of documents on behalf of another. An individual (A) cannot deliver a document to the Registrar on behalf of another person (B) unless A satisfies the relevant descriptions set out in column 2 in the table in subsection (2), and provides an accompanying statement specified in the corresponding entry in column 3 confirming their description and that they have B’s authority to file.
	Where B is a firm, A must fall into one of the following categories to be permitted to deliver documents on behalf of B:
An individual who is an officer or employee of the firm and whose identity is verified,
An individual who is an officer or employee of a corporate officer of the firm and whose identity is verified,
An individual who is an authorised corporate service provider as defined by section 1098A (this includes that individual authorised corporate service providers must have their identity verified), or
An individual who is an officer or employee of an authorised corporate service provider.
	Where B is an individual, A must fall into one of the following categories to be permitted to deliver documents on behalf of B:
An individual whose identity is verified,
An individual who is an authorised corporate service provider as defined by section 1098A (this includes that individual authorised corporate service providers must have their identity verified), or
An individual who is an officer or employee of an authorised corporate service provider.
	The purpose of this provision is to serve as a deterrent to unauthorised individuals delivering documents to the Registrar. An individual who makes a false statement required by column 3 of section 1067A(2) whilst delivering a document to the Registrar will be committing a general false statement offence under section 1112 or section 1112A of the Companies Act 2006. This can happen for example when an individual (A) was not verified.
	Section 1067(2) also requires that individuals who file on behalf of firms are either an officer or employee of the firm, or an authorised corporate service provider (or their employee). Under section 1173, in Companies Act 2006, a "firm" means any entity, whether or not a legal person, that is not an individual and includes a body corporate, a corporation sole and a partnership or other unincorporated association. Section 1173 defines the term "officer" in relation to a body corporate with a non-exclusive list of roles that includes a director, manager or secretary. The interpretation of the term officer for the purpose of section 1067A should include any individual in a position akin to director, such as for example a member of a limited liability partnership. The purpose of these filing restrictions is to ensure that individuals or firms who provide corporate services to other firms must register as an authorised corporate service provider in order to file documents with the Registrar.
	Section 1067A(3) clarifies who meets the criteria under row 2 of the table of being one of a firm’s officer in relation to a corporate officer that has only corporate officers. Corporate officer is defined in section 1067A(8).
	Under section 1067A(4), the Secretary of State may by regulations change the restrictions on individuals who are able to deliver documents on their own behalf or on behalf of another person. The regulations under section 1067(4)(a) may create exceptions to any requirements provided in subsections (1) and (2), including for example from the requirement that certain individuals must have their identity verified. The regulations made under subsection (4)(b) may amend section 1067A for the purpose of changing the effect of the table in subsection (2).
	Under section 1067A(5) the regulations creating exceptions under section 1067A(4)(a) may also (i) require any document delivered to the Registrar in reliance on an exception to be accompanied by a statement and (ii) amend section 1067A. Under section 1067A(6) the regulations may also require any document delivered to the Registrar in reliance of an exception to be accompanied by additional statement or additional information in connection with the subject matter of the statement.
	Regulations under section 1067A are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.