ASSOCIATION OF COMPANY REGISTRATION AGENTS (ACRA) BOARD MEETING
at the offices of Jordans, 20-22 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4JS
MINUTES OF MEETING 27th JULY 2015, 12.30 pm
Present:
Stephen Curtis
Malcolm Chettleburgh
Jeremy Cowdry
Sonia Dhesi
Sam Lloyd
Carol Prince
Phil Vibrans
Chettleburghs
London Law
Appleton Company Services
Company Registrations Online
Jordans
Company Registrations Online
Apologies:
Andrew Davis
SDG
The Board welcomed Sonia to her first Board meeting as a director of ACRA.
1. Minutes from the last Board meeting, held 3rd June
The minutes were accepted.
2. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
3. BIS Working Party on PSC Guidance
The Board noted with approval ACRA’s submission to the recent consultation. They, in conjunction with the
expressed views of others who were being affected by the new rules, felt that time was very short to make the
necessary software and other changes for a PSC system due to be introduced in January 2016. The government
had now put back by a year its abolition of corporate directors (to October 2016) and it was possible that this
would have to be delayed as well. However, the idea of the PSC register was a Prime Ministerial imperative for
which there continued to be wide international publicity, and this could make delay difficult. Companies House
were professing themselves ready to operate the new system but the experience of members seemed to be that
many CH staff were unable to answer reasonable questions on how the new regime would work in practice.
There continued to be unease over the responsibilities and liabilities of an agent filing PSC information on
behalf of a company. There could be times when there was a tension between obeying client instructions (for
example to ensure that their name was not listed) and meeting the requirements of the PSC legislation. The
Chairman, as a member of the PSC working group, would look into this, arranging a meeting with BIS if
necessary.
4. ACRA Forum
Given the availability of likely speakers, it seemed best to make the 18th November Forum an afternoon event. If
possible the timings should at this stage be slightly more generous than for the first Forum, to give scope for
possible slippage and for pursuing in some depth topics that particularly interested the delegates.
The welcome would be given by the Chairman but he would see if a government Minister (Baroness NevilleRolfe?) would be willing to give a short keynote speech.
The provisional timings were determined as:
12.00
12.30
12.40-1.30
1.40-2.30
2.30-2.45
2.45-4.00
4.00-5.00
Buffet lunch available
Welcome to the Forum
Brian Garcia or alternate, HMRC. The AML inspection regime and the impending
fourth AML Directive
Companies House’s experts on the PSC register; requirements, the protection
regime and other issues
Tea break
Tim Moss, Registrar. The future direction of Companies House and how agents can
help them deliver their vision
Networking
The cost would be £40 plus VAT to members and £70 plus VAT to non-members. Payment would again need to
be made by cheque or bank transfer.
The Board felt that professional help would be useful to design the flyer, which should incorporate some of the
reactions to last year’s Forum. It noted that there was a good firm in Stockport who could undertake this work.
5. ACRA’s website
The Board recognised that the redesign of this should be a priority. It did not at present convey the image of
ACRA as set out in its purpose and values. The pictures used were mentioned as a particular weakness while
some felt that the ACRA logo had little meaning. Professional support for an improved site would be needed.
That could be costly and it would be necessary to establish a budget for this work and then see what could be
achieved. That would be resolved between meetings.
The Board wanted to remind members that access to the members’ area of the website was obtained through the
email address and the password acra4545. There was much good material there.
6. Other priorities
The Board felt that a membership drive and any revision of the Code of Conduct should follow the updating of
the website. More pressing was the need to maintain pressure to ensure that CH complied with AML rules
when it was undertaking formations, by bringing together those with an interest in the topic. They were likely to
include the AML committee of the Law Society; the Metropolitan Police; NCA; ICAEW; FATF; the Fraud
advisory Panel; and pressure groups such as Global Witness.
We might also look at practices in other countries and the Board was invited to look at an IACA report on
international business registers.
7. Any Other Business
i.
The Board discussed the annual charge for those using the ACRA-approved set of Articles and
resolved to change its accounting practices from the autumn to make these amounts more visible.
ii.
The next meeting would be held on Thursday, 17th September, from 12.30 until 3, in London.
Stephen Curtis
Chairman