Under Regulation 54 of MLR17, HMRC must maintain a register of all relevant persons who are trust or company service providers (TCSPs) that are not already registered with FCA.

Firms that are not on the register are not permitted, under the MLR17, to provide TCSP work. If you perform TCSP work when not on the register, you may be subject to disciplinary action.

In order to maintain the register, HMRC has requested ICAEW (along with the other professional body supervisors) notifies them of all the firms we supervise that perform TCSP work (including firms where the TCSP work is incidental to the accountancy services.). We will have to send HMRC the name and address of each firm and confirm they are ‘fit and proper’.

If you have told us on your annual return that you have performed TCSP work in the last 12 months (ie, answered ‘yes’ to any of questions AML07a to AML07e), we will include your firm on HMRC’s TCSP register.

You do not need to take any further action (although you may wish to check your most recent annual return to make sure you answered ‘yes’ to AML07a to AML07e).

If you answered ‘no’ to all of the Annual Return questions AML07a to AML07e but you want to be included on HMRC’s TCSP register, please email AMLR@icaew.com with your firm name and firm number and we will add you.

Please note ICAEW is your supervisor and you don’t need to separately register with HMRC. We will pass your details to HMRC as they must maintain a register of all TCSPs.

What is TCSP work?

TCSP work is defined by Regulation 12 (2) of the MLR17 as:

1. forming companies or other legal persons;
2. acting, or arranging for another person to act:
1. as a director or secretary of a company;
2. as a partner of a partnership; or
3. in a similar capacity in relation to other legal persons;
3. providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address or other related services for a company, partnership or any other legal person or legal arrangement;
4. acting, or arranging for another person to act, as:
1. a trustee of an express trust or similar legal arrangement; or
2. a nominee shareholder for a person other than a company whose securities are listed on a regulated market.

• Further information on HMRC’s definition of TCSPs.