Statutory Registers & Company Books Evidence

Coddan Verification and Documentary Solutions Centre

Statutory Registers and Company Books for Evidential Use

Identify the company fact, the date at which it must be established and the record that properly evidences it before preparing a register extract, copy or alternative official route.

Start with the fact and its date—not a blank register. This service prepares evidence from an existing, supportable internal record. It does not invent entries, backdate a book, reconstruct missing history from assumption or treat certification as correction.

Is this the right service?

When this service may help

This service is appropriate only where the requested fact is expected to be evidenced by an existing internal statutory register or company book and the company, legal structure, recipient, purpose, relevant date and source record can be identified sufficiently.

The fact is defined

The request identifies membership, registered shareholding, a historic officer fact, an internal entry or another specific matter—not simply “company records”.

The date is known

Current, historic and transaction-specific positions remain separate. The source must be appropriate to the date the recipient needs established.

An existing source is assessable

The record’s origin, location, completeness, continuity and supporting documents can be checked, or a readiness problem can be identified.

The required form can be identified

We can establish whether the recipient needs particular entries, an extract, a copy, company certification, professional certification or an official alternative.

Reserved basis: subject to confirmation of the applicable law, record type, relevant date, source record, supporting evidence, required certifier and recipient instructions. A missing, inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent or disputed record must be transferred to the appropriate preliminary route.

Current statutory position

The traditional register bundle is no longer the current legal map

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 reforms commenced in stages. This service distinguishes current company-held requirements from retained historic records and reforms that have not yet become fully operational.

Register of members

Every company remains required to keep a register of members. It is the principal company-held statutory register for current and historic membership evidence within its proper scope.

Former local officer registers

From 18 November 2025, the statutory requirements to keep local registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries and people with significant control were abolished. Relevant information is notified to the registrar under the current framework.

Former central-register election

From 26 January 2026, the option to keep member information on the central register instead of the company’s own register was removed. Transitional duties can require information to be entered in the company-held register.

Later member-information reforms

Further ownership-transparency provisions remain dependent on commencement, regulations and systems. Future full-name, historic-information or one-off shareholder-list rules are not presented here as universally operational.

Date-sensitive control: a former statutory register may still be valuable historic evidence, but it must be described according to the period and law under which it was maintained. A voluntarily retained officer or ownership record is not labelled a current statutory register merely because it resembles an older register.

Different records establish different facts

A statutory register, historic company book, supporting transaction document and Companies House product must not be treated as interchangeable merely because they concern the same person or event.

Current company-held register

The register of members and any other record whose present statutory basis has been verified for the particular company and purpose.

Retained historic register

A directors’, secretaries’, residential-address or people-with-significant-control register created while the company-held requirement applied, or another record relevant to a past date.

Supporting company record

An allotment or transfer record, share certificate, notice, company correspondence, resolution, minute, constitutional provision or other source supporting an entry.

Public or official product

Companies House register information, a filing image, certified filed copy or company certificate—each with a separate source, status and evidential scope.

Not proof by appearance: a professionally printed blank register, spreadsheet, ownership schedule, scan or company-book folder is not automatically a properly maintained statutory register.

Members and ownership

The register of members has a defined job

For a company with share capital, the register records membership and registered shareholdings within its statutory scope. For a company without share capital, including a company limited by guarantee, membership is a different relationship and should not be translated into shares.

Member

A person entered in the register of members or otherwise becoming a member under the applicable statutory route.

Registered shareholder

The registered holder of shares recorded in the member register; this is not automatically the same as every beneficial or economic interest.

Beneficial owner

A different concept that may depend on trusts, nominee arrangements, contracts or other evidence and may require separate legal analysis beyond this documentary service.

Person with significant control

A statutory control category reported to Companies House. It is not automatically identical to membership, a registered shareholding or transaction authority.

A confirmation statement, annual return, share certificate or people-with-significant-control entry may support part of the history, but none is automatically a substitute for the register of members or conclusive proof of every current ownership question.

Fact and source

Use the source that properly evidences the requested fact

Requested fact	Possible source chain	Control point
Current or historic membership	Register of members, with relevant incorporation, admission, transfer, allotment or cessation evidence.	Relevant date, continuity and supporting entries must be checked.
Registered shareholding	Register of members supported where necessary by allotment decisions, returns, transfer instruments and certificates.	Registered title is not automatically beneficial ownership.
Historic officer or control fact	Retained historic register, Companies House filings, public-register chronology and underlying company decisions.	The source must match the period before or after the 18 November 2025 reforms.
Rights attached to membership or shares	Operative articles, class-right provisions and relevant resolutions, with the register identifying the holder.	Use Articles, Objects and Constitutional Documents for Evidential Use for the operative constitutional source; legal interpretation remains separate.
Authority to act	Resolution, delegation, power of attorney, mandate and transaction documents—not status in a register alone.	Use Powers of Attorney, Authorised Signatory and Corporate Authority Evidence for the transaction-specific authority decision.

Where sources conflict, the inconsistency is recorded and the evidential route pauses. Missing facts are not created by combining assumptions from incomplete filings, certificates or company records.

Provenance and completeness

A register is evidence only to the extent its source can support

Origin

Identify who maintained the record, where it came from and whether it is the company-held original, a reliable copy, a migration or an unexplained document.

Continuity

Check incorporation, later entries, changes of provider or format, missing periods and whether the record runs continuously through the relevant date.

Support

Connect material entries to allotments, transfers, decisions, filings, notices, certificates, correspondence or other appropriate evidence.

Limitations

Record missing pages, unexplained alterations, disputed entries, inconsistent totals or gaps openly rather than hiding them in a certification statement.

No member, shareholder, shareholding, allotment, transfer, appointment, cessation, people-with-significant-control status, date, signature, entry, missing page, record location, company representation or certification wording will be invented.

Supporting documentary chain

An entry may require its underlying documents

The recipient may need only a supported entry or extract. A more complex or disputed history may require the original membership position, later allotments or transfers, decisions, filings and corrective documents.

Starting position

Incorporation records, subscribers or guarantors and the initial member entries.

Change event

Admission, allotment, transfer, cessation, appointment or another properly evidenced change.

Register entry

The relevant dated entry, including class, holding or membership information required for the company type.

Public and later evidence

Related Companies House filings, later corrections, court orders, restoration evidence or superseding entries.

One entry does not automatically prove the validity of an allotment or transfer, payment for shares, beneficial ownership, compliance with every procedure, absence of competing claims or current authority to transact.

Location, inspection and disclosure

An evidential request is not automatically a statutory inspection request

Permitted location

The register of members must be available at the registered office or another permitted notified location. The actual location and any required notification must be checked.

Inspection and copies

The Companies Act provides rights concerning inspection and copies of the member register, but a request must contain prescribed information and a company may apply to the court where it considers the purpose improper.

Proportionate disclosure

A recipient-led evidential request does not justify indiscriminate disclosure of an entire register, private address, signature or protected information. Any extract must remain accurate and non-misleading.

Enforcement of inspection rights, refusal of access, alleged improper purpose, data-protection disputes or court applications remain outside this service and may require legal advice.

Complete register, copy or extract

Select the shortest sufficient presentation

Complete register

May disclose more historic, personal or commercially sensitive information than the recipient needs.

Entry or extract

May reproduce only relevant entries, provided the source, date, scope and any material qualification or gap remain clear.

Private certification

Depends on the certifier’s access, evidence, knowledge, capacity and authority. It is not a Companies House-certified product.

Official alternative

A certified filed copy or company certificate may be shorter where the recipient requires facts or filings held by Companies House rather than an internal extract.

Certification confirms only what the certifier is properly able to state in the identified capacity. It does not validate an inaccurate register, cure missing history, decide ownership or convert a private extract into an official Companies House document.

Verification date and reliance

State when—and from what—the evidence speaks

A register extract or company-book statement should be tied to a stated verification date, the entries and period reviewed, the source and location of the record, supporting documents, the preparer’s capacity and any material company representation or limitation.

It can state

What the identified record showed at the stated date and what supporting evidence was reviewed within the defined scope.

It cannot assume

Indefinite accuracy, automatic updates, future ownership, facts outside the extract, resolution of disputes or authority for every transaction.

Recipient control

The receiving institution determines whether the selected source, date, certifier and evidential form satisfy its requirement.

How the service works

Six steps from the requested fact to usable register evidence

IdentifyIdentify the organisation, recipient, purpose, requested fact and relevant date.
ClarifyIdentify the exact register entry, company-book record or official alternative the recipient requires.
SourceIdentify the applicable statutory framework, authoritative record and supporting documentary chain.
CheckCheck provenance, completeness, continuity, supporting records, filings and readiness.
SelectSelect the shortest sufficient register, extract, ordinary-copy, certified-copy or alternative official route.
ConfirmConfirm scope, responsibilities, limitations, charges, certification, submission and delivery arrangements.

Documentary readiness

A copy of a defective record remains defective evidence

This service separates evidential preparation from correction, reconstruction, a new corporate act, ownership adjudication, legal rectification and restoration.

Evidence checks

Company identity, relevant law and date, correct record, location, provenance, chronological continuity, entries, supporting documents, public filings and later corrections.

Stop conditions

Missing register, missing period, inconsistent holdings, unsupported allotment or transfer, disputed ownership, inaccurate filing, absent decision, defective authority or dissolved-company issue.

Separate preliminary work

Internal correction, reconstruction, filing, governance, ownership analysis, court rectification, transaction-authority work, legal advice or restoration requires a separately defined route.

Professional boundaries

Internal evidence does not absorb constitution, decisions or authority

Constitution

Use Articles, Objects and Constitutional Documents for Evidential Use where the entry depends on operative articles, class rights or membership provisions.

Corporate decision

Use Board Minutes, Members’ Resolutions and Corporate Decision Documents for Evidential Use for a decision supporting an admission, allotment, transfer, appointment, cessation or correction.

Transaction authority

Use Powers of Attorney, Authorised Signatory and Corporate Authority Evidence to establish whether an identified person may act in a particular transaction.

Correction and reconstruction

Use Document Correction and Readiness Before Certification or Evidential Use where an entry, source document, filing, record history or authority is not ready.

Later treatment

Authentication is separate and never assumed

International use alone does not establish that notarisation, an apostille, translation, Chamber certification or diplomatic legalisation is required. The source record, extract, certifier, signatory capacity, signature and destination may affect any later route.

Notarial act

Controlled by the appointed individual notary and defined separately from preparation of the internal-record evidence.

Apostille

Eligibility and issue are controlled by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The signature or certification presented may be decisive.

Translation or diplomatic stage

Controlled by the translator, embassy or consulate under its own current requirements and sequence.

The correct sequence should be established before an extract is signed, certified, notarised, apostilled, translated, bound or submitted. The receiving authority makes the final acceptance decision.

Responsibility map

Who is responsible for each part of the evidence?

Company

Responsible for its registers, books, underlying transactions, decisions, filings and representations, including any company certification made by an authorised officer.

Companies House or regulator

Controls its register, filed documents, official products, formats, charges, processing and regulatory decisions.

Coddan

Identifies, reviews, prepares or coordinates the appropriate existing internal-record route within verified authority and the agreed written scope.

Independent professionals and authorities

A legal adviser, notary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, translator, embassy, consulate or foreign professional controls the act performed in that capacity.

Commercial scope

What may affect cost and timing

No artificial package or unsupported price is used. The scope depends on the fact to be evidenced, the relevant date and the condition of the record.

Record complexity

Number and type of records, company structure, relevant period, record format, provenance, continuity, missing material and supporting documents.

Evidential work

Source review, comparison with filings, preparation of entries or extracts, required certifier, Coddan’s professional work and any official or independent professional product.

Later and preliminary stages

Paper handling, delivery, notarisation, apostille, translation, diplomatic charges and separate correction, reconstruction, governance, authority, legal or restoration work.

The written scope should distinguish Coddan’s professional charge, official charges, independent professional and third-party charges, delivery charges, and circumstance-dependent preliminary or additional work. Value Added Tax treatment is confirmed only where applicable and established.

Related specialist routes

Official Companies House evidence

Certified Copies of Companies House Documents — for a certified copy of a particular filed document.

Company Certificates and Status Documents — where available official certified company facts are sufficient.

International route and later treatment

UK Company Documents for International Use — where the wider route remains uncertain.

Notarisation of UK Company Documents

Apostille of UK Company Documents

Embassy and Consular Legalisation

Certified Translation of Company Documents

Complete Document Certification and Legalisation Service — only for a confirmed multi-stage route.

Institutional outcomes

Where register evidence is part of a wider bank, funder, investor or due-diligence request:

Company and Charity Documents for Banks, Funders, Investors and Due Diligence

Where it forms part of overseas registration, tax or regulatory use:

UK Company Documents for Overseas Registration, Tax and Regulatory Use

Private facts and governing sources

For a consolidated private statement of company facts:

Certificates of Incumbency and Officeholder Evidence

Where membership or share rights depend on the operative constitution:

Articles, Objects and Constitutional Documents for Evidential Use

Decision and authority evidence

Where an entry depends on minutes, a resolution or another existing decision:

Board Minutes, Members’ Resolutions and Corporate Decision Documents for Evidential Use

Where the real question is authority for a specified transaction:

Powers of Attorney, Authorised Signatory and Corporate Authority Evidence

Historic status and readiness

Where dissolution, restoration or historic status changes the route:

Documents for Dissolved, Restored and Historic Companies

Where a register, entry, filing, source document or ownership history is not ready:

Document Correction and Readiness Before Certification or Evidential Use

Enquiry information

What to tell Coddan so we can identify the correct statutory-register evidence

Provide as much as you know. “Not known” is an acceptable answer. You do not need to decide the correct register, legal effect, certifier or later authentication route yourself.

Company and recipient

Name, registration number, legal structure, incorporation date if known, current status, recipient, purpose or transaction, destination country and deadline with its reason.

Requested fact and date

Exact terminology, fact to establish, whether current or historic, verification date, and whether the recipient refers to members, shareholders, beneficial owners, people with significant control, officers or signatories.

Register and custody

The register or company book believed relevant, who holds it, where it is kept, paper or electronic form, when it was created or updated, any migration and any missing pages or periods.

Membership and shares

Whether limited by shares or guarantee; relevant classes; members or shareholders; holdings; entry and cessation dates; and any disputed membership, ownership, nominee or beneficial-interest issue.

Supporting evidence

Incorporation material, allotments, transfer instruments, certificates, returns, confirmation statements, annual returns, minutes, resolutions, articles, notices, filings and later corrections.

Consistency and readiness

Whether internal records and Companies House agree; missing or superseded entries; legal proceedings or rectification; and any inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent or disputed source.

Required presentation

Complete register or selected entries, ordinary or certified extract, confidentiality or protected information, expected signer or certifier, professional capacity, paper or electronic form, seal, stamp or attachment.

Later stages and delivery

Written instructions or sample wording; requested or completed notarisation, apostille, translation or diplomatic legalisation; language, sequence, submission and delivery destinations.

Company-status issues

Any proposed or commenced strike-off action, dissolution, restoration in progress or completed restoration.

Send this information through Coddan’s normal website contact details. This section is an information checklist only and does not transmit an enquiry.

Frequently asked questions

Statutory registers and company books

What is a statutory register?

It is a company record required by legislation for a defined purpose. The required register depends on the law in force, the company type and the relevant date.

What are company books?

The expression can include statutory registers, decision records and other internal corporate documents. This service identifies the specific record rather than treating “company books” as one universal document.

Which statutory registers must a company currently keep?

The register of members remains company-held. Other record-keeping duties depend on the company, document type and legislation. Traditional register bundles may include former requirements and must not be used as a current legal checklist without verification.

Have recent reforms changed company-held registers?

Yes. From 18 November 2025, statutory local registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries and people with significant control were abolished. Current notification duties to Companies House and relevant historic evidence remain distinct.

Does a company still need a register of members?

Yes. Every company must keep a register of members. The content and supporting history depend on whether the company has share capital, its membership structure and the law applicable to the relevant period.

What happened to companies that used the Companies House central register for members?

That election ended on 26 January 2026. Transitional legislation can require the company to enter information that would otherwise have appeared in its own member register. The individual company’s position must be checked.

What happens to historic registers after a current requirement changes?

They may remain relevant evidence for the period in which they were maintained. They must be described as historic records, not automatically as current statutory registers.

What is the difference between an internal register and Companies House information?

They have different statutory functions and may cover different facts and dates. Information filed or displayed by Companies House does not automatically reproduce the whole internal record or decide every underlying legal question.

Must internal records and Companies House always be identical?

Not in every respect, because the required information and functions can differ. Material inconsistencies must nevertheless be investigated rather than ignored.

Is a member the same as a shareholder?

Not always. In a company with share capital, members are generally registered shareholders. A company limited by guarantee has members but no shares. The legal structure must be identified.

Is a registered shareholder the same as a beneficial owner?

Not necessarily. Registered legal membership and beneficial or economic ownership can differ. Trust, nominee or disputed ownership questions may require legal advice.

Is a person with significant control necessarily a shareholder?

No. People-with-significant-control status may arise through shares, voting rights, appointment rights or significant influence or control. It is not interchangeable with registered shareholding.

Does a confirmation statement prove current share ownership?

Not by itself. It reports specified information to Companies House for a particular period. The register of members and the underlying allotment or transfer history may be needed to establish the current position.

Does a share certificate prove membership by itself?

No. It may support a holding, but it is not the register of members and may have been replaced, cancelled, transferred or issued inconsistently with other records.

Can a register prove a historic shareholding?

It may evidence the position recorded at a historic date if the record is complete and its provenance and chronology are supportable. Additional transfer, allotment or filing evidence may be needed.

What if part of the register is missing?

The gap is a readiness problem. Available sources may be assessed through Document Correction and Readiness Before Certification or Evidential Use, but missing history must not be reconstructed from assumption or concealed in an extract.

Can an inaccurate entry be corrected by certification?

No. Certification does not correct the underlying record. The appropriate internal, filing, governance, legal or rectification route must be identified first.

What if Companies House and the company’s register disagree?

The sources, dates and supporting events must be compared. The inconsistency may require a filing correction, internal-register correction, governance work or legal advice before evidence is prepared.

What is rectification of the register of members?

The Companies Act provides a court route where required information is omitted or inappropriate information is included. This service identifies the issue but does not conduct or determine contested rectification proceedings.

Can this service decide a disputed ownership question?

No. It identifies and prepares existing evidence. Contested legal title, beneficial ownership, trust arrangements or competing transfers require appropriate legal advice.

What is a register extract?

It is a reproduction of selected entries from an identified source register. It should state the source, relevant date and scope and must not omit information that materially changes its meaning.

Must the recipient receive the complete register?

Not necessarily. A supported extract may suffice if the recipient accepts it and disclosure remains accurate, proportionate and non-misleading.

Can confidential or personal information be omitted?

Sometimes, but any extraction or redaction must respect the applicable legal framework and must not make the evidence misleading. Protected or residential information requires particular care.

Who can certify a register extract?

That depends on the recipient’s instructions, source record and requested statement. The certifier must have the necessary access, evidence, capacity and authority; there is no universal signatory rule.

Is a company-certified extract an official Companies House document?

No. It remains a private company document, even where related information has also been filed at Companies House.

Can Companies House certify an internal statutory register?

Companies House certifies documents held on its register and issues its own official products. It does not turn a company-held internal register into a Companies House-certified document.

When is a Certificate of Incumbency more appropriate?

Where the recipient wants a consolidated private statement drawing together several company facts or sources rather than an extract from one register, use Certificates of Incumbency and Officeholder Evidence.

Can an existing paper or electronic record be used?

Yes, where its origin, completeness, status and relevant date are supportable and the recipient accepts the proposed form. Neither medium is automatically sufficient or unsuitable.

Is a printout from an electronic register an original?

Not automatically. It is a presentation of the electronic source and must be described according to its real status and any certification applied.

Does a register entry prove transaction authority?

No. Membership, shareholding, officeholding or control status does not automatically authorise a person to complete every transaction. Use Powers of Attorney, Authorised Signatory and Corporate Authority Evidence for that analysis.

Does every overseas use require notarisation or an apostille?

No. The recipient’s instructions, destination, source record, certifier and signature determine whether either stage is justified.

Must the register extract be translated?

Only where the recipient or competent authority requires it. The source document, language, translator qualification and order of stages should be confirmed first.

Is embassy or consular legalisation always required?

No. It is a separate diplomatic stage used only where the destination and receiving authority require it.

What happens if the company is dissolved or has been restored?

Surviving records may be incomplete and require checks against the relevant date. Authentication does not restore a company, and restoration does not automatically reconstruct missing registers. Use Documents of Dissolved, Restored and Former Companies where status affects the records available.

Who decides whether the completed evidence is acceptable?

The receiving authority or recipient decides acceptance. Companies House and each professional or authority control only their own product or act.

What information does Coddan need?

The company, recipient, purpose, requested fact, relevant date, suspected source, available register, custody, supporting history, discrepancies, required presentation, deadline and any later-treatment instruction. “Not known” is acceptable.

What affects cost and timing?

The number, age, format, location and condition of records; length of the history; supporting documents; discrepancies; extract and certification requirements; professional stages; preliminary work; and delivery.

Principal outcome

The correct existing internal record, in the form the recipient needs

With the applicable legal requirement, authoritative source, verification date, provenance, completeness, limitations and any separately justified later treatment clearly defined.

Certified filed copy route

Certified Statutory Registers & Company Books.

Identify the company fact and record your recipient needs and establish whether a register entry, extract, certified copy or another evidential route is appropriate.

If a recipient requires evidence from an existing statutory register, historic company book or supporting internal record, Coddan can help identify the relevant source, establish the applicable date and coordinate the appropriate evidential route within the confirmed documentary requirement.

Follow a defined route from identifying the company fact and relevant date to selecting and preparing the appropriate register evidence.

UK Company Statutory Registers & Official Company Book Certification Services