• 
• 
• 
• Buy / Sell Property Selling a Home Buying a Home Shared Ownership Leasehold Developers

  Family & Children Childcare Proceedings Children - Residence & Contact Cohabitation Civil Partnerships Divorce & Separation Collaborative Law Domestic Violence Sorting Finances

  Wills, Trusts & Probate Charity Law Court of Protection Wills, Trusts & Inheritance Power of Attorney Probate & Estates Tax Planning Trusts & Settlements Living Wills

  Accidents Personal Injury Brain Injury

  Disputes Property Disputes Contract Disputes Professional Negligence Employee Disputes

  Business Employment Law Landlord & Tenant Debt Recovery Company Law Company Property Agricultural Property
• 
• 

• Home
• Who we are
• Latest
• Contact
• Recruitment

Print this pageCompany Law Updates

As the largest piece of UK legislation to date, the Companies Act 2006 finally came fully into force from 1st October 2009, complete with its 1300 sections and 16 schedules...

The Companies Acts have been around for the last 150 years and are designed to set the framework in which companies with limited liability must work. The Companies Act 2006 received Royal Assent back in November 2006 and effectively replaced existing company legislation by re-writing, updating and modernising company law.

The final stage

As parts of it have come into effect over the past 35 months, we have already seen some quite important practical changes, such as the ability of private companies to dispense with a company secretary and new duties on directors, but this final stage includes:

• Directors can now use a 'service address' and avoid their private residential address appearing on a public register (although existing addresses will remain until they are amended)
• Newly formed companies can issue shares without limit. Existing companies limited by an 'authorised share capital' can take steps to remove that limit
• Companies previously had a 'memorandum and articles of association', now the sole constitutional document will be the articles
• 'Administrative restoration', which introduces a new (and hopefully cheaper) way of restoring to the register companies that have been struck off. This has been the surprisingly common fate of flat management companies where the administration of them has got into a muddle.

Although there has been some tightening up in a few problem areas, for smaller private companies the general effect of the new legislation is greater flexibility, with a relaxation of some of the procedural obstacles to routine transactions. However, to take full advantage of the new flexibility it may be necessary to amend the articles of your company. This is because the transitional arrangements within the legislation are such that restrictions within existing articles generally continue to apply unless they are removed.

Find out how we can help you

If you need specific advice on whether it would be desirable to amend the articles of your company in the light of the new Act, please contact Simon Whipp on 01603 724652 or email wswhipp@cozens-hardy.com

> Back to law notes