Companies Act A-Z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


The Companies Act 2006 is the largest Act ever, with 1300 sections and 16 schedules, and is the most significant change to company law legislation in the past 20 years. The Act (which received Royal Assent on 8th November 2006) has meant that company law has been substantially rewritten with a view to making it easier to understand and more flexible. Secretary of State Alistair Darling has said:

'This Act will help ensure Britain remains one of the best places in the world to set up and run a business. It makes sure the regulatory burden on business is 'light-touch', promotes shareholder engagement and will help encourage a long-term investment culture in the UK.'

This is fair comment in certain respects, for example, shareholder decision-making by private companies. Other areas, however, such as directors duties and directors liability are more contentious and arguably impose a greater regulatory burden.

October 2009 is the date by which all parts of the Act will come into force. There are, however, many areas that companies need to be aware of and planning for now; certain provisions were implemented on 1 January 2007, 20 January 2007 (to implement the First Company Law Amendment Directive and the Transparency Directive), 6 April 2007 and 1 October 2007.

The significant dates for the next phases of implementation are: 6 April 2008, 1 October 2008 and 1 October 2009.  The Corporate Team at Bristows has developed a headline 'A-Z' reference guide to steer you through the main areas of the Act and identify the key practical changes. The implementation date for each section is indicated in the text.

Please click on the letters above for an alphabetical listing of the topic areas. Under each heading you will find summary information on the relevant changes. The sections in bold relate to sections that have already come into force and the sections in italics relate to issues which are subject to transitional arrangements and/or ongoing consultation. If provisions apply to public quoted companies, we have indicated (in the headings) whether these apply solely to main market listed companies or to all UK listed companies (including AIM and Plus). If you wish to view the A to Z guide in full, please open the .pdf version under "documents" on the right hand side of the page.

Whilst every effort has been, and will continue to be, made to ensure the contents of the 'A-Z' reference guide are accurate and up to date, this is not guaranteed because the implementation of this legislation is constantly evolving and subject to ongoing consultation. The contents of the A-Z reference guide are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.

If you would like advice on the Companies Act 2006 then please contact corporate partners, Mark Hawes or Iain Redford, or the member of the corporate team with whom you usually deal.