The Government yesterday (14/12/07) announced its final timetable for bringing the remainder of the Companies Act 2006 ("the Act") into force.
In a written statement, the Minister for Competitiveness, Stephen Timms, explained that the Government has been consulting with businesses since announcing last month that some parts of the Act would be delayed until October 2009 to give Companies House further time to update its processes and systems.
It appears that the Government has listened to concerns about the effect of such delays, particularly in relation to the new regime for private companies. This latest statement includes the welcome news that the prohibition on private companies providing financial assistance to buy their own shares will be lifted from 1 October 2008, ending the need for the whitewash procedure. The Government is also bringing forward the new procedure to allow private companies to reduce their share capital by special resolution supported by solvency statements instead of requiring a court order. This will take effect from 1 October 2008 as well.
Two additional sets of provisions will commence from 6 April 2008:
- time limits for keeping past members' details in the Register of Members will be reduced from 20 years to 10 years; and
- the right to inspect and require copy of entries in the Register of Interests.
- The following other provisions which had been expected to be delayed based on the November announcement will also now take effect from 1 October 2008:
- requirement for companies to disclose their name and other specified details;
- requirement for every company to have at least one director who is a natural person, and setting a minimum age of 16 years for such directors;
- · duties of directors in relation to conflicts of interest including board authorisation of such conflicts; and
- · declaration by a director of interests in existing transactions or arrangements with the company.
Details of the final implementation timetable are now available from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's website (http://www.berr.gov.uk/bbf/co-act-2006).
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