From 24 July 2017, Scottish limited partnerships are required to register details of "persons with significant control" (PSCs) over the partnership and "relevant legal entities" (RLEs) with Companies House.   For this purpose, only individuals will be PSCs; a corporate body which would meet the requirements for being a PSC is instead treated as an RLE.

Scottish limited partnerships are commonly used to structure asset-backed contribution (ABC) arrangements for occupational pension schemes.  In most cases, the pension scheme trustees are limited (sleeping) partners with all operations and control of the partnership being conducted solely by the general partner (normally a Scottish company linked to the employer).  However, the new requirements are wide enough to cover pension trustees in some circumstances and, potentially, their principal employer.

The requirement to register falls on the limited partnership and on its partners.  A pension scheme trustee which is a partner in a limited partnership should therefore take steps to ensure that any PSCs and RLEs are registered, even if it is not a PSC or RLE itself.

Partnerships need to complete and file the appropriate form (SLP PSC02) within 14 days of 24 July 2017 or, if later, of the date on which all the necessary information about the PSC has been confirmed.  Failure to comply with the requirements is a criminal offence.