A Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) or Verified Identity Number (VIN) will be required for all Companies Registration Office (CRO) filings by company directors, with effect from 23 April.

The CRO has said that the information will be used to ensure that the company director “is alive and is a natural person”.

The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 states that a director shall include his or her personal public service number in:

• Form A1 – incorporation of a new company,
• Form B1 – annual return,
• Form B10 – appointment or resignation of a director, or change of their details, and
• Form B69 – notice by a director of cessation of office where a company has failed to file a form B10.

Only certain services are allowed to ask for a PPS number, of which the CRO is one.

All directors’ PPSNs or VINs required

All such companies, and/or presenters, should ensure that all directors have either a PPSN or VIN available in advance of the next applicable filing with the CRO.

If a director does not hold a PPSN, they must obtain a VIN and provide it to the CRO in conjunction with the above filings.

If a transaction number was issued for filings with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (RBO), this will shortly be reclassified as a VIN by the CRO.

No PPSN? Apply for a VIN

If a director does not currently hold either a PPSN or RBO transaction number, they should apply to the CRO to have a VIN issued through a ‘Form VIF’ (Declaration as to Verification of Identity).

This form must state the name, date of birth, nationality, and address of the director for whom a VIN is being sought.

None of the identifiers will be publicly viewable on any CRO filing.

The CRO verifies the name, date of birth and PPS number by comparing them, via an electronic interface, with data held on the PPS number database of the Department of Social Protection.

In order for there to be a match between the two sets of data, the forename and surname entered in the CRO must exactly match the name associated with that PPS number in the Department of Social Protection’s database.

The registrar reserves the right to reject any submission where the name entered on the CRO does not match the name as registered for that PPS number with the Department of Social Protection.

Validated PPSN and VIN information will be stored securely by the CRO in an irreversible hashed/encrypted format.

Further information is available online.