Private Wealth, Public Scrutiny: What ECCTA Means for HNWIs and Family Offices
The UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) is more than a compliance update, it marks a shift in how wealth, control, and corporate activity are regulated. For certain High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs), Family Offices, and private capital groups linked to the UK, it raises new considerations around exposure, accountability, and governance.
A More Transparent – Less Forgiving – Landscape
ECCTA introduces significant reforms to combat fraud, money laundering, and economic crime. But it also introduces new thresholds of transparency and corporate liability that potentially bring private wealth structures within scope.
This UK legislation enhances powers to scrutinise ownership and attribute liability across complex networks of individuals and entities. Companies House now have more effective investigatory tools, including better cross-checking of data and sharing of information to tackle money laundering and other economic crime. While public companies and multinationals have long contended with this type of pressure, many family-led businesses, trusts, and closely held structures are now facing similar transparency obligations, and often with far fewer internal compliance resources.
What’s Changing, and Why It Matters
- Beneficial Ownership and Corporate Transparency
Companies House has gained new transparency driven powers to query, challenge, and reject information from the register deemed inaccurate, inconsistent or potentially fraudulent. All UK corporate entities must ensure that details of persons with significant control (PSC) are accurate, current, and complete. Filing false or misleading information, or failing to update records, can now result in criminal liability.
Implication: Legacy structures created for privacy or flexibility may inadvertently trigger compliance issues. Individuals acting as directors, trustees, or shadow controllers must ensure they fully understand their reporting obligations.
- Failure to Prevent Fraud (Large Organisations)
From 1 September 2025, large organisations (those meeting at least two of the following: £36m+ turnover, £18m+ assets, or 250+ employees) will be automatically liable for frauds committed by those associated with them (employees, agents, contractors etc.), unless they can demonstrate “reasonable procedures” were in place to prevent such conduct.
Implication: Single Family Offices, property groups, or investment companies operating at scale may now fall within scope, particularly where there is active management. Risk may arise not only from internal actors but also external professionals acting on the organisation’s behalf.
- Expansion of Corporate Criminal Liability
Historically, the bar for prosecuting corporate entities was high – requiring proof that a company’s “directing mind and will” was complicit. ECCTA lowers this bar, allowing organisations to be held liable where a senior manager is involved in wrongdoing.
Implication: Individuals with significant influence, whether formally appointed or not, can now expose an entire group to criminal investigation. This is particularly relevant where operational roles are split informally across family members or long-standing advisors.
- Trust Transparency and Public Access
From 31 August 2025, Companies House will begin granting public access to trust-related information held on the Register of Overseas Entities. This includes details of trustees, beneficiaries, and the nature of the trust relationship which was previously shielded from general disclosure. While access is subject to application and, in some cases, a legitimate interest test, the threshold for scrutiny has lowered significantly.
Implication: Trustees and beneficiaries linked to overseas entities must prepare for increased visibility. Advice should be sought on whether protection applications are warranted and ensure clients understand the new disclosure landscape.
What This Means for Private Wealth Structures
ECCTA signals more coordinated and assertive enforcement. Investigations are likely to be broader in scope, faster moving, and less forgiving of oversight, especially where structures are used across jurisdictions, reaching to:
- Active holding companies and family-owned businesses
- Property portfolios and SPVs
- Single Family Offices (SFOs) and Multi-Family Offices (MFOs)
- Foundations, trusts and offshore entities with UK links
This creates a real need for governance hygiene. In practical terms, families and advisors should be asking:
- Have we mapped our group structures to identify risk?
- Are PSC and company filings accurate, and how often are these reviewed?
- Have we introduced fraud-specific procedures, even if we fall outside the “large organisation” threshold?
- Do we understand who exercises influence and what that means under the new attribution model?
- Are we confident that our advisory teams are aligned on ECCTA’s implications?
A Converging Point: Wealth, Risk and Regulation
Gone are the days when family business and legacy structures could make ownership and influence less visible. ECCTA reflects a broader trend: private wealth is no longer shielded from the expectations placed on larger, public organisations. Increased transparency is being hardwired into law. So is corporate accountability notwithstanding how the business is structured, and who is ultimately behind it.
Next Steps
This is an opportune time to review structures and get gets things in order. We are advising private clients, family-led businesses, Family Offices and trustees on how ECCTA interacts with corporate structuring, succession planning, and risk governance.
Whether you’re looking to understand exposure, prepare for the new offence, or future-proof your structures, we are available for a dual-specialist focused consultation.
To discuss how ECCTA may affect you or your clients, please contact our specialists:
