The short answer
In the UK, a person with significant control (PSC) is someone who holds more than 25% of a company’s shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise has significant influence or control. Companies must report their PSCs to Companies House, which publishes them.
At a glance
- Term
- Persons with significant control (PSC)
- Also known as
- PSC register · UK PSC
- Category
- Ownership & identity
- Where it matters
- Company and founder due diligence
Persons with significant control in practice
The PSC regime started in 2016 and is the UK’s public beneficial-ownership register. Each PSC entry records the nature of control — ownership bands, voting rights, board appointment rights — and when it started or ended.
Where control sits with another company that keeps its own PSC register, that company can appear as a relevant legal entity instead of a person.
Why persons with significant control matter
- It shows who controls a UK company without a private cap table.
- Changes in PSCs can signal a sale, a restructuring or new investors.
Persons with significant control in MarketPrior
MarketPrior reads officers and PSC data from Companies House for UK companies, uses them in the ownership and control section of a report, and screens known owners against sanctions and PEP lists.