Limited liability partnerships – the registers you need to keep

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) in the UK are required to keep three statutory registers available for inspection. These are the register of members, register of members’ residential addresses, and register of people with significant control (PSC register).

We discuss these in detail below, including the information you need to record and keep up to date in these registers, where you must store them, and the requirement to deliver the information held in these registers to Companies House.

LLP statutory registers

Under the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, as applied to limited liability partnerships by the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009, LLPs must maintain the following statutory registers:

• register of members
• register of members’ residential addresses
• register of people with significant control (PSC register)

These formal records provide a definitive statement of who owns and controls an LLP at any given time. They must be kept from the moment of incorporation and made available for public inspection upon proper request.

The information contained within the registers should be kept up to date for the entire lifetime of the LLP and provided to Companies House.

1. LLP register of members

The LLP register of members must contain the required particulars of each person who is a member of the limited liability partnership.

In the case of an individual person who is an LLP member, the following details should be recorded:

• name and any former name(s)
• service address (official correspondence address)
• the country or state (or part of the UK) where they usually reside
• date of birth
• whether they are a designated member of the LLP

In the case of corporate bodies and firms (i.e. companies) who are members of an LLP, the following particulars should be recorded:

• corporate or firm name
• registered office or principal address
• the legal form of the corporate body or firm and the law by which it is governed
• if applicable, the official register in which it is entered (including details of the state) and its registration number in that register
• whether the company or firm is a designated member of the LLP

All of the information contained within an LLP’s register of members is a matter of public record. However, for privacy reasons, the day element of a member’s date of birth is not disclosed.

2. LLP register of members’ usual residential addresses

The LLP register of members’ usual residential addresses must state the usual home address of each individual member of the LLP.

If any member’s usual address is the same as their service address stated in the register of members, then the address register needs only contain an entry to that effect, e.g. “Same as service address”.

However, if their service address has been stated to be the LLP’s registered office, the full address must be entered in this register.

Residential addresses are protected information, so the information in the LLP register of members’ usual residential addresses should not be disclosed to the public. Companies House will not disclose information contained in this register to the public; however, they may disclose it to law enforcement agencies and some other government bodies, if there is a requirement to do so (e.g. to aid an ongoing investigation).

3. LLP register of people with significant control

The LLP register of people with significant control, or PSC register, records information about who ultimately owns or controls the limited liability partnership.

See also: Register of People with Significant Control (PSC register)

In the case of an individual person who qualifies as a PSC of the LLP, the following information must be recorded in the register:

• name
• service address
• country or state (or part of the UK) where they usually reside
• nationality
• date of birth
• usual residential address
• the date they became a registrable person in relation to the LLP
• nature of their control over that LLP
• whether restrictions on using or disclosing the person’s PSC particulars are in force in relation to the LLP

In the case of a relevant legal entity (RLE) (i.e. a corporate body) that qualifies as registrable in relation to the LLP, the following information must be entered in the register:

• corporate or firm name
• registered office or principal address
• the legal form of the RLE and the law by which it’s governed
• if applicable, the register of companies in which it is entered (including details of the state) and its incorporation number in that register
• date it became a registrable RLE in relation to the LLP
• nature of its control over the LLP

In the case of another registrable person (e.g. a corporation sole or local authority), the following details are required:

• name
• principal address
• the legal form of the person and the law by which they are governed
• the date they became a registrable person in relation to the LLP
• nature of their control over the LLP

If an LLP does not have any PSCs, or you are unable to identify or confirm the required information relating to them, a statement to that effect must be entered in the PSC register.

Storing LLP statutory registers

Traditionally, statutory registers were large physical books, but most companies and limited liability partnerships these days keep their registers in digital form.

It is entirely up to the LLP’s designated members how they wish to maintain these registers. However, digital record keeping is more secure and makes it easier to update and share information.

By law, statutory registers must be made available for inspection at the LLP’s registered office address or a Single Alternative Inspection Location, more commonly known as a SAIL address.

As an alternative to keeping your own statutory registers at either of these addresses, you may elect to keep the information on the public register at Companies House instead.

GOV.UK provides detailed guidance on electing to keep information usually kept in LLP registers at Companies House.

Disclosing and updating the information in your LLP registers

LLP designated members are responsible for maintaining statutory registers, ensuring that the information recorded within is accurate, kept up to date, and sent to Companies House for disclosure on the public register (where applicable).

See also: LLP filing and reporting requirements explained

If there are any changes to the details held in the registers, or you discover any inaccuracies, you must update the information in the relevant register within 14 days, then notify Companies House within a further 14 days using the appropriate form.

Who can inspect LLP registers?

Whilst the LLP register of members’ usual residential addresses must be kept confidential, the register of members and PSC register must be open to public inspection.

This means that any person can make a request to inspect and take copies of the information held in these registers.

Any person who wishes to inspect an LLP’s statutory registers must give at least 10 working days’ notice and state the following information in their written request:

• their name and address
• whether the information will be disclosed to any other person
• the purpose for which the information is to be used

LLPs have five days to comply with any such request or make an application to the court if it considers the request to be for an improper purpose.

An LLP’s registers must be kept available for inspection at its registered office or SAIL address for at least two hours each business day between 9am and 3pm.

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