Companies Act 2006 – updated Overview and Implementation Timetable

We have updated our Overview of the Act, and the accompanying Implementation Timetable, which were originally published in April. The Overview summarises the key provisions of the Act as a whole, including the codification of directors’ duties, the new rules on derivative actions, and changes to the rules on meetings and resolutions, which come into force on 1 October 2007. The Implementation Timetable identifies when the most important sections come into force.

In updating the Overview we have:

• revised the section on directors’ duties (for example, to reflect material published by the Government in June)
• specified the commencement date of provisions that are particularly significant or imminent, and identified provisions that came into force on 6 April 2007
• updated the section on derivative actions to reflect the procedural rules published in August
• updated the section on inspecting a company’s register of members to reflect guidance published by the ICSA in June and a change in the implementation timetable announced in May
• highlighted the issues for private companies to consider when proposing to enter into a transaction that under the 2006 Act will no longer be prohibited as financial assistance
• highlighted information about potential impediments to a takeover that listed companies will have to include in their annual directors’ report
• included the recommendations of Professor Paul Davies made in June as to whether the statutory liability regime in section 90A Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 should be extended to AIM and PLUS Markets companies, and to ad hoc announcements
• made various other changes to take account of regulations under the 2006 Act and other materials that have been published by the Government since this note was originally published.

The Implementation Timetable has been updated to reflect announcements made by the Government since April.

Click here for the updated Overview.

Click here for the updated Implementation Timetable.