Commentary on Sections Schedule 3: Register of people with significant control Part 21A: Information about people with significant control 790C: Key terms
393.Section 790C defines key terms used in Part 21A.
394.Subsections (2) to (3) provide that an individual meeting one or more of the specified conditions, as set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1A (“the specified conditions”), is a person with significant control (PSC) over the company.
395.Section 790C also sets out the circumstances in which a legal entity rather than an individual may be noted in the PSC register. Such entities are called “relevant legal entities” (RLEs) (subsection (6)). An RLE is a legal entity that would have been a PSC had it been an individual and which is subject to its own disclosure requirements. These disclosure requirements are set out in subsection (7).
396.The effect of provisions in respect of RLEs is that if, for example, company A is owned by company B and company B maintains a PSC register under Part 21A, a person (P) with significant control over both B and A as a result of the same shareholding (held through B) need not be registered as a PSC in relation to A, provided that P has no other interest in the company through any other means. Instead, by virtue of section 790M(5), B will be noted in A’s PSC register as an RLE. Those looking at A’s register will be able to then look to B’s register to identify P. This aims to avoid, where appropriate ownership disclosure arrangements are already in place, duplicative reporting.
397.Individuals with significant control over a company and RLEs are either registrable or non-registrable (subsections (4) and (8)). The term refers to whether or not the individual or RLE’s details must be entered or noted in the company’s PSC register (see section 790M).
398.An individual or RLE is non-registrable if they have significant control over the company by having significant control through one or more RLEs and no other interest in the company. Subsections (2) and (3) and Schedule 1A determine whether an individual or an RLE holds an interest in a company, holds that interest through another legal entity or has significant control over that legal entity (subsection (9)).
399.If an individual or RLE is not non-registrable, it is registrable.
400.The register that a company is required to keep in relation to its PSCs under section 790M is referred to in this Part as the company’s “PSC register” (subsection (10)).
401.Subsection (12) provides that some entities are to be treated as if they were individuals (i.e. registrable or non-registrable persons) for the purpose of Part 21A. These are corporations soles, governments and government departments, international organisations (provided its members include two or more countries, territories or governments), and local authorities and local government bodies. Although these entities are not subject to the disclosure rules set out in subsection (7), they cannot practically or usefully be ‘looked through’ to identify an individual or individuals who meet the specified conditions. This means that unless express provision is made, there will be no entry on the PSC register in such cases. This could be misleading or unhelpful for users of the PSC register. For this reason these entities are treated as individuals for the purpose of this Part, whether or not they are legal persons. Regulations may be made to modify the application of Part 21A in respect of such entities.