Companies Act 2006 - First provisions implemented today

At last, it's here. The longest single piece of legislation ever passed by Parliament. Some major provisions of the Companies Act 2006 come into force today (1st October).

The Act, which received Royal Assent last November is aimed at simplifying and changing company law to make it simpler and easier to understand (especially for small businesses). The Government claims the Act will save businesses £250m per year.

Some of the Provisions which come into effect today include:

Part 9 (Exercise of members' rights);
Part 10 (A company's directors), other than provisions relating to directors' conflict of interest duties, directors' residential addresses and underage and natural directors;
Part 11 (Derivative claims and proceedings by members);
Part 13 (Resolutions and meetings), and, related to this, sections 485-488 of Part 16 (Audit);
Part 14 (Control of political donations and expenditure);
Section 417 of Part 15 (Contents of directors' report: business review);
Part 29 (Fraudulent trading);
Part 30 (Protection of members against unfair prejudice);
Part 32 (Company investigations: amendments).

You can read the full details in our Companies Act Implementation timetable.

For a comprehensive summary of the Companies Act 2006 and the key changes for small companies read our article; Companies Act 2006 and Private Companies