Companies Act 2006

The Companies Act 2006, which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, is available from :

Commencement of Act provisions on 1 October 2008

Some important provisions will be commenced on 1 October 2008. These include:

the general duties of directors in respect of conflicts of interest;
the new procedure for private companies to make capital reductions supported by a solvency statement instead of by a court order;
companies will have to have at least one natural person as a director, so a company cannot be a sole director of another company (some existing companies will have more time before the rules change);
there is a new minimum age of 16 for directors.

The restrictions under the Companies Act 1985 on financial assistance by private companies for the acquisition of their own shares will also be repealed with effect from 1 October 2008.

Secondary legislation

All statutory instruments (SIs) relating to the commencement of provisions of the Act in 2007 and 2008 have now been made. Further details, including links to the SIs and Explanatory Memoranda on the OPSI website, are available on the Regulations and Commencement Orders – made or laid in draft page.

The Department has published a draft of the Eighth Commencement Order, which will commence provisions of the Act with effect from 1 October 2009, on the Regulations – draft page. The Department has invited comments on the draft Order by Friday 5 September.

The Department has also published revised drafts of many of the other SIs which we intend to make in respect of the commencement of provisions of the Act in October 2009. These are also available on the Regulations – draft page.