WHAT WE DO / BUSINESS & FINANCE / COMPANIES ACT 2006
The Companies Act 2006 is the largest piece of legislation ever enacted in the UK. It consists of some 1,300 sections, 16 schedules and 200 plus pages of explanatory notes. The process by which it reached the statute books took more than eight years. The Act finally became law in late 2006. It was phased in over three years, with the final parts of legislation becoming effective in October 2009.
Among the main aims were to bring company legislation into line with best current practice and to respond to today’s business needs. The Act was drafted on the basis that the vast majority of companies in the UK are small, private and/or family run and should not be subject to the mass of burdensome, and extremely complex, legislation perhaps more appropriate to larger publicly quoted companies.
There are, however, a range of new measures which affect every single company operating in the UK. The Act has also attempted to remove various outdated requirements and introduce a number of measures enabling those who own companies, to run them more effectively.
Ince & Co’s Corporate group provides advice to clients, ranging from small private companies to large corporations, on the impact of the Act.