The Companies Act 2006 received royal assent in November 2006 but has been brought into force in stages. Throughout 2007, a number of small or stand-alone provisions were brought into force but it was not until October this year that the first substantial chunk of legislation came on line. Of the 1300 provisions set out in the new act, over 300 are now in force. Another set of provisions will be implemented in April 2008 and the whole act will be fully in force by October 2009.

Previously it was thought that the Act would be fully in force by October 2008, however, on Wednesday 7 November the government announced that provisions due to come into force in October 2008 would be delayed, largely due to uncertainty over whether the systems at Companies House will be ready on time. The government has said it will consult with business on whether certain provisions which do not depend on Companies House systems can be brought into effect any earlier. These include the general duties of directors in respect of conflicts of interest and the repeal of the restrictions under Companies Act 1985 on financial assistance for the acquisition of shares in private companies. Until the results of that consultation are known, the position remains that all provisions previously stated to come into force in October 2008 will now come into force in October 2009.

The Companies Act 1985 will be almost completely repealed although many of its sections are restated in the Companies Act 2006.

The main changes for UK directors relate to the following:

Further provisions will come into force in April 2008. Join us for a breakfast briefing in early April 2008 to find out what else will be changing. For registration details, please e-mail Julia Weiss (julia.weiss@harbottle.com).