Companies Act comes into full force
01/12/09
The biggest overhaul of company law was launched in October this year when the final elements of the Companies Act 2006 were brought into force.
Some of the key changes that businesses need to be aware of are:
- Service and Residential address
From October 1st every director should have provided Companies House with their residential address and a service address for each directorship held. The service address is the only one that is publicly available, with the residential address disclosed to public authorities and credit reference agencies.
- Company Registers
Company registers will have to be held at the registered office address. Alternatively, a Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL) may be set up after notifying Companies House. Businesses may only hold one SAIL at a time but not all registers need to be registered to that SAIL.
- Article Changes
Businesses must send any amendments to their articles back to Companies House within 15 days; otherwise owners could be liable to a criminal offence and civil penalty of £200 for failing to comply in response to a notice from the registrar.
Loosemores' Senior Commercial Partner, Michael Culley, notes that "The changes brought in by the Act are far reaching and companies must take great care to ensure that they comply fully with the provisions of the Act".
Send an email to commercial@loosemores.co.uk or call us on 02920 224433 to find out more.