On 11 February 2016, BIS published its final non-statutory guidance for companies, Societates Europaeae ("SEs") and LLPs on the register of people with significant control. This guidance was updated on 4 March 2016.

This guidance was broadly similar to the draft guidance for companies which BIS published on 21 December 2015. For a summary of the draft guidance, please see our Q4 2015 newsletter available on page 1.

However, the final guidance does include minor amendments which clarify the guidance. For example, the final guidance inserts several paragraphs clarifying how condition (i) (ownership of shares) applies to companies without share capital, including charitable companies. Additionally, the updated guidance clarifies when rights in a company may be exercisable in certain circumstances, for example situations involving voting rights, rights to appoint or remove directors and options to acquire shares. The revised guidance makes clear that these three examples are not an exhaustive list.

This final guidance can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/505303/NONSTATUTORY_GUIDANCE_FOR_COMPANIES_AND_LLPS.pdf

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.