On 10 July 2003, the Government announced its plans for reforming company law. They contain three main elements:

• Early legislation to implement changes to the law recommended by the various reviews following recent major corporate failures. These changes will complement the non-legislative measures already taken or underway as a result of the work of the Co-ordinating Group on Audit and Accounting Issues, and the Review of the Regulatory Regime of the Accountancy Profession, and will help restore investor confidence in companies and financial markets. Further information on the work of the Co-ordinating Group is available here. The legislation will also include measures creating a new corporate vehicle, the Community Interest Company (CIC), to promote the development of social enterprise. Further information on CICs is available here.
• In parallel with this legislation, the Government plans to use existing powers to introduce a statutory Operating and Financial Review (OFR) for large companies. Draft regulations on the OFR will be published for consultation in due course; and
• The continuing programme of comprehensive reform of company law, following the independent Company Law Review and the Modernising Company Law White Paper. This work is aimed at providing a modern, cost-effective, fair and transparent framework for business, shareholders, creditors and others."

A link to  Jacqui Smith's statement can be found here

Additional information on the White Paper

A draft overarching Regulatory Impact Assessment that provides an overall assessment of the regulatory impact of the current proposals for the Bill is available here

More detailed individual RIAs that cover the main proposals and support the overarching RIA are also available here

Information on the Operating and Financial Review Working Group set up to provide guidance to directors on whether an item is material to their company and hence must be included in an OFR is available here

A separate summary of the proposals for small businesses (81Kb) is available.

The Terms of Reference (72Kb) of the references on Company Charges made to the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission as part of this exercise are available here

The Final Report of the Company Law Review is available here

The consultation documents published during the Company Law Review are available here

Contact details for the Companies Bill Team are available here