Company Law Club Newsletter 2007-07
Companies Act 2006 implementation delayed
The implementation of the full provisions of the Companies Act 2006 has been delayed
until October 2009. The decision was revealed in a written statement on 7th November
2007 by Stephen Timms, the Minister for Competitiveness. You can read the statement
on the BERR
website.
In his statement, Stephen Timms blames this delay on the difficulty in processing
the complex changes at Companies House. While the provisions that were scheduled
for April 2008 will still go ahead, the Government is first consulting key stakeholders
before confirming in December whether the provisions that do not concern Companies
House will be implemented before 2009.
A number of provisions of the Act have already come into force, for example
those on the exercise of members' rights, derivative claims, the abolition of
the AGM requirement for private companies, new rules on resolutions, proxies,
etc. and the control of political expenditure. Other provisions that were due
to be implemented in April 2008, such as those relating to audits and accounts,
and the repeal of the requirement for a private company to have a company secretary
will probably still go ahead as planned.
It is the timing of the further provisions due for October 2008 which is uncertain.
The provisions that concern Companies House, such as those relating to company
formation, a company's name, registered office, members, share capital and annual
returns are now set for October 2009. The areas which require more discussion
are those which do not directly concern Companies House operations, which the
Mminister's statement identifies as including:
· objection to company names;
· trading disclosures;
· provisions relating to corporate directors and under-age directors;
· general duties of directors in respect of conflicts of interest;
· declaration by a director of an interest in an existing contract or
arrangement;
· inspection of register of interests in a companies shares;
· and the repeal of restrictions on financial assistance for acquisition
of shares in private companies.
By December this year the plans for the implementation of the final phases
of the Act should be clearer with the release of a further statement detailing
the 'final' commencement timetable.
For further pages on the Companies Act 2006 go to:
First Company Law Club Article (the first 7
parts of the Companies Act 2006)
Second Company Law Club Article (Parts 8,9
& 10 of the Companies Act 2006)
Text of the
Act on IPSO website
Provisions already implemented at April
2007
Provisions implemented in October 2007
Proposed timetable for implementation
A list of all parts and chapters
Company Law Club new legislation section
(for commencement orders, etc)
DTI
website
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