Relevant legal entities
1st Formations | January 2026
What qualifies as a relevant legal entity for the PSC register?
You’ve probably already read somewhere that a relevant legal entity (RLE) is a company or organisation that has significant control or influence over your business. But that definition alone is only half the story. There are specific conditions under UK law that separate any old company that has a say in how your business is run, from an actual RLE you need to record and report. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you fully get to grips with what an RLE is, how to identify one, what to do next, and how to comply with your ongoing recording and reporting responsibilities.
What is a relevant legal entity?
An RLE is a company or organisation that has significant control or influence over a business. It satisfies the same conditions that would qualify it as a PSC if it were an individual. A business must notify Companies House of all the RLEs it has. This is because the business is subject to a disclosure regime.
A company can only be listed as an RLE if it is also subject to a disclosure regime. If not, you need to look through the company to find the individuals who are really in control and, if they qualify, list them as PSCs instead.
Understanding the definition of a relevant legal entity (RLE) is like building a piece of flatpack furniture. You first need to figure out what each of the parts are before you can start fitting them together.
In this analogy, the parts are a few key terms:
Person with significant control (PSC): an individual who has significant control or influence over a business, usually because they have more than 25% shares or voting rights.
PSC register: a list of PSCs that every UK incorporated business must file with Companies House alongside their confirmation statement.
Disclosure regime: a transparency framework that requires businesses to identify their PSCs, tell Companies House who they are, and for these details (in addition to other key company information) to be made publicly available.
Head to the 1st Formations website to read the full blog post.