These companies were not compliant with Registered Office requirements under the Companies Act 2006.

The project was designed to identify and enable enforcement action against high-risk company incorporation locations and corporate entities believed to be enabling criminality in the UK and overseas.

It involved the National Crime Agency, Companies House, HM Revenue & Customs, The Insolvency Service, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision, Home Office, and UK police.  

As part of the project, a two day intensification took place involving officers from the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, and South Wales Police. The forces attended company premises alongside officers from HMRC’s Economic Crime Supervision. They focussed on high-risk addresses, company formation agents, and directors linked to UK companies.  

Officers visited eleven addresses where 30 high risk trust and company service providers operated. They identified that no real business activity was taking place, and that company formation agents had failed to comply with relevant requirements under the Companies Act.

In one example, a company registered between 4,000 and 5,000 businesses at an address in London. The businesses, however, were based in other parts of the UK and, in some cases, overseas. 

As a result of the multi-agency effort, key individuals involved in company formation have been barred from making further registrations, criminal referrals have been made to the Insolvency Service, three high risk trust and company service providers are to be closed, with a further 27 facing enforcement action, and significant criminal property has been identified for law enforcement civil recovery action.

The activity forms a part of wider cross-government efforts to prevent the abuse of UK corporations by criminal actors. Landmark reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act are coming into force at Companies House, including the new Authorised Corporate Service Provider regime and forthcoming ID Verification requirements. 

Today, The Insolvency Service is publishing a new enforcement strategy expanding its role into tackling economic crime (click here to view), which will build on the ground-breaking intelligence and enforcement partnerships developed between it, the National Crime Agency, Companies House and other agencies through this project.

Rachael Herbert, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre, said: “Money laundering amplifies harm from serious and organised crime, including organised immigration crime and fraud, by funding further criminality and undermining confidence in our financial sector.

“We estimate that over £100 billion is laundered through and within this country each year, a significant proportion of which is facilitated by UK-registered corporate structures.

“Projects like this one reveal the results we achieve when law enforcement, public and private organisations come together to tackle it – harnessing their collective expertise to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen controls and crack down on those who abuse them.”

Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:

“Tackling economic crime and improving corporate transparency is a key priority for the Insolvency Service. The removal of 11,500 companies from the Companies House register as a result of intelligence we have shared with our enforcement partners is a significant step forward in delivering a more reliable register to underpin business activity.

“Our investigations into the companies which are potentially linked to fraud are ongoing and we will use all the appropriate criminal and civil sanctions at our disposal to ensure the UK remains a safe place to do business.”

Director of Intelligence and Law Enforcement Engagement at Companies House, Martin Swain, said: “We recognise that many third-party agents provide legitimate services and play an active role in the creation and management of UK companies.

“However, we also know that some agents are complicit in various forms of criminality by wilfully abusing and exploiting the system.

“I am pleased that Companies House is playing a much greater role in helping to disrupt this type of activity and reduce economic crime – as our role here shows.

“We will continue to support our law enforcement and regulatory partners in identifying, targeting and stopping abuse of the company register.”

Louise MacDonald, Deputy Director of Economic Crime, at HMRC’S Fraud Investigation Service, said: “As a money laundering supervisor, we know criminals will prey on weaknesses. That’s why we work tirelessly to ensure businesses have defences in place to protect themselves and the UK economy from criminal attack.” 

“Working alongside partners in government and law enforcement we will continue to use all our powers against the minority who breach money laundering regulations.”

Deputy Commissioner Nik Adams, National Coordinator for Economic and Cyber Crime for the City of London Police said: “The scale and complexity of economic crime demands a coordinated response, and this operation is a strong example of what can be achieved when law enforcement and regulatory bodies work together. Criminals who use UK-registered companies to disguise illegal activity and move illicit funds are not just breaking the law - they are undermining the integrity of our financial system and damaging public trust.

“By identifying and disrupting these networks, we are helping to ensure that the UK remains a hostile environment for those who seek to exploit it for criminal purposes.

“The City of London Police, as the national lead force for fraud, remains committed to working with our partners across government and the private sector to drive forward these efforts, protect legitimate businesses, and bring offenders to justice.”

Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: “We all know that fraud devastates lives, and that money laundering is at the heart of organised crime, so it is essential that we take decisive action against this kind of economic crime and bring those responsible to justice.

“This multi-agency crackdown highlights the importance of building a united front to tackle these issues, and we will continue to engage with partners as we prepare to publish our new, expanded Fraud Strategy before the end of this year.

“My thanks go to the agents whose tireless work made this operation a success.”