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Click here for the BERR Companies Act 2006
Please use the COMPANIES ACT 2006 as a cross-reference
tool.
Click
here for a link to download the PDF file
Companies Act 2006 – Countdown
to October 2009
The Companies Act 2006 is changing the law
for companies. These changes affect every company
operating in the United Kingdom. Passed in
2006, the Act reaches the final stage of implementation
on 1st October 2009.
According to Companies House, the
key changes for October are as follows:
Directors’ addresses protected
from disclosure
Every director will have a service address
and a usual residential address. The service
address for each directorship will be publicly
available. The residential address will only
be made available to public authorities and
credit reference agencies. On 1st October a
director’s current residential address
will automatically become the service address.
Alternative address for registers
There will be changes to the arrangements
for inspecting a company’s registers.
These registers may be held at the registered
office address or at a single alternative inspection
location (SAIL). You must notify us if you
set up a SAIL address or if the SAIL address
is moved, and you may only have one SAIL address
for a company at a time. Once the SAIL address
is set up, you can move some or all registers
to the SAIL address by notifying us. The simplest
way to register this address will be via our
WebFiling service from October.
Easier to set up a company
A number of changes have been made to make
it easier to set up a company. There are also
changes to company articles for new companies.
They will include the company’s objects,
liabilities and assets – all of which
were previously in the memorandum.
Notifying us of articles changes
You must send any amendments to the company’s
articles to us within 15 days. Otherwise you
could be liable to a criminal offence and a
civil penalty of £200.
UK wide company registry
Northern Ireland company registry will be
integrating with Companies House.
Guidance
Companies House is producing guidance notes
which explain the changes and give step-by-step
instructions on how to form a company, what
you need to send us during the life of a company
and how to dissolve a company. These will be
available here from July.
Forms
All Companies House forms will change from
1st October 2009.
The new forms include:
Companies Act 2006 information requirements
new numbers
additional guidance notes
details of any fee (if applicable)
The new forms must be used for all company
events that take place on or after 1st October
2009. If you use an old form it will be rejected.
Company events which take place before 1st
October must be submitted on 1985 Act forms.
Specimen forms will be available here from
July.
Fees
To cover the cost of running the register,
Companies House charges fees for the filing
of certain forms such as the annual return,
change of name, mortgage and voluntary dissolution.
Please remember to send the fee in with a paper
form otherwise we will be unable to accept
it. Draft fees will be available here from
July.
Dealing with Companies House online
Remember most information can now be filed
electronically using WebFiling or a suitably
enabled software package. This saves you time
in providing information and gives you step-by-step
help to prevent any errors or the irritation
of having forms rejected. It can be cheaper
too for some fee bearing forms.
Protecting your company from hijack
From 1st October, the Registrar’s Protected
Online Filing (PROOF) scheme will operate under
the framework of the Act (section 1070).
PROOF customers are protected from unauthorised
changes to their company details. They agree
with the Registrar that they will only file
certain documents electronically. If a fraudster
tries to ‘hijack’ their company
by filing a piece of paper, this will be rejected.
The Registrar urges all companies to sign up
to PROOF. It can now easily be done via the
WebFiling service using the company’s
authentication code (you no longer need the
written consent of each director).
Important tips for companies to make the transition
to the new Act a smooth one:
- Try to complete any business with Companies
House under the 1985 Act well before the end
of September. Use the countdown on our website
to see how many days you have left.
- Make sure that you are ready to file electronically
in October. If you use WebFiling, this
will be easy – the menu screens
will guide you through what you have
to do.
- Get your company signed up for Protected
Online Filing (PROOF).
- Watch out for the new rules in the Act on
inconsistent filings. Keep your company’s record up
to date and consistent with what we already
have on the public record. Tell us about changes
when they happen – don’t wait
for the Annual Return.
- File on time to avoid a penalty. You have
one month less to file your accounts.
If your company
normally files its accounts on 31 January,
remember that the deadline this year will
be 31 December – nine months after
the end of the year as opposed to ten.
- You must send any amendments to the company’s
articles to us within 15 days. Otherwise you
could be liable to a criminal offence and a
civil penalty of £200.
- Keep up to date with information on the
Companies Act 2006 by checking our website
regularly
or signing up to our Companies Act RSS
feed
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