New research has revealed a surprising number of criminals and disqualified directors on the Companies House register

There are over fifteen hundred disqualified directors currently running UK companies, according to a new report. The research, which was conducted by World-Check and Datanomic, also concludes that many of the disqualified directors are running their companies from prison. Datanomic's CTO Steve Tuck, says that insufficient data matches may be hiding even more. "We found 1,504 direct matches," he says. "I'm quite certain we'd find more if the suspect matches were really scrutinized. The fact that [Companies House] isn't running these checks does make you wonder about other organisations. It's quite curious that these pseudo-official bodies appear to do no screening or come under any obligation to do so."

Datanomic software was used to cross-reference the 6.8 million names of active UK companies and their directors and secretaries against World-Check's database of some 750,000 high risk individuals and businesses, including PEPs (Politically Exposed Persons), money launderers, fraudsters and terrorists. In total, there were 3,994 exact matches of high-risk individuals found to be registered in the UK. As well as 1,504 disqualified directors, there were 154 individuals associated with financial crime, 13 individuals who are either wanted by Interpol for terrorism or involved in acts of terrorism, and 37 narcotics traffickers. A further 27,000 near matches were produced from the initial scan.

"These results are truly beyond belief in terms of the number of criminals that are permitted to operate companies in the UK. The problem seems to lie in the fact that Companies House is not required in its remit to actively screen applicants," says David Leppan, CEO and founder of World-Check.

Neil White, head of press and internal communications at Companies House, says the organisation's only responsibility is to apply the Companies Act legislation, which it does. "We're working under the previous legislation," he says, "but gradually we're looking to introduce elements of the new legislation, the Companies Act 2006." White adds that Companies House is working with World-Check to see if improvements can be made.
He also questions whether World-Check's data is current. "It is not unusual to find discrepancies with two such pieces of information. Our initial investigation has raised issues about timings and data matching."

The list includes one director of 12 companies, currently wanted by Interpol for terrorism and forgery, two directors of several UK firms, who are both suspects in foiled UK terror plots, and a convicted fraudster, who served a 5 year jail sentence for selling false insurance, is listed as director of two UK companies. "Screening your customer base against sanctions lists for known criminals should be part of responsible business practice," says Dr Jonathan Pell, CEO of Datanomic. "Regulated companies are required to do so by law, and it seems absurd that Companies House, which is an Executive Agency for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, isn't required to do so. If the UK government is serious about prevention of criminal and terrorist activities, it should take a closer look at how directorships in UK companies are being used."

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