Companies Act 2014 section 894

Disposal of documents filed with Registrar

Section 894 sets out the rules governing when and how the Registrar of Companies may destroy documents that have been filed, and the obligations to retain electronic copies of company records both during a company's existence and after its dissolution.

• The Registrar may destroy a filed document once 6 or more years have passed since receipt and the Director of the National Archives has authorised the destruction.
• While a company remains on the register, and for 20 years after dissolution, the Registrar must keep an authentic and accessible electronic copy of every document filed in relation to that company.
• After 20 years have elapsed since dissolution, all electronic copies of a company's documents must be transferred to a dedicated archival database for dissolved companies.
• The method of maintaining the archival database must, in the Registrar's opinion after consulting the Director of the National Archives, best preserve the integrity of the data.