Companies House bolsters digital offering as remote working becomes the norm

Companies House Gibraltar is bolstering its digital services against the backdrop of Covid-19 and the move to remote working.

In an update, Companies House said it was introducing new online services as part of its e-Registry platform.
“People and businesses have had to adapt to new ways of working and to more modern means of accessing services,” it said in a statement.

“Some have been better prepared for this than others.”

“Companies House Gibraltar has been well equipped to continue the efficient running of the Registry and has adapted where necessary to meet the needs of its users.”

“Some of our clients have made good use of our e-Registry during this time, filing documents in electronic format using their own unique identifiers (UID) as a means of authentication.”

“We have also continued to invest in the development of our e-Registry platform and are now delighted to announce a number of new and exciting advances in this area.”

A new e-Filing module will be available to accounting professionals who until now have been delivering accounts in the traditional hardcopy form.

“A new e-Filing module will be available that will enable accountants to register with us to obtain their own UID which will then enable them to file accounts electronically on behalf of their clients,” said the organisation.

Professionals looking to take advantage of this will need to provide Companies House with a letter confirming the names and registration numbers of their clients’ companies, with additional an safeguard including the secretary of each of the accountant’s client companies receive a notification of the registration.

Companies House will also be expanding its electronic company profile service to cover the registers of Private Foundations, Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability Partnerships, Trade Marks and Patents.

Moreover, it will also be digitising the documents of Private Foundations, Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability Partnerships, Trade Marks and Patents in order for them to be accessible online.

Looking to the future, Companies House is now aiming to “roll out an enhanced electronic annual return” that will give users the ability to file an e-Annual return to record changes that have occurred since its previously filed annual return.

“[An] exciting development that we are looking to introduce in the coming year is an interface program that is already under development which will enable trust and company service providers to connect their company management software to the e-Registry platform,” it said.

“In this way they will be able to file documents directly via the e-Registry from their own proprietary platform. This will be our main objective to be achieved in 2021 to the satisfaction of all professionals concerned.”