The Companies Act 2006 (the Act) which received Royal Assent on 08 November 2006, will extend fully to Northern Ireland when implementation is finalised, bringing major benefits to incorporated bodies by modernising and simplifying company law.
In line with its commencement timetable, a major tranche of provisions was commenced on 01 October 2007, including those relating to directors’ general duties, the business review and company resolutions and meetings. A further tranche of provisions will be commenced with effect from 06 April 2008, including those relating to accounts and reports, audit and abolishing the obligation on private companies to have company secretaries.
The Written Statement (WS2/07) explained that the Companies House in Cardiff would require sufficient time to implement important changes to its systems and processes affecting other important areas, such as company formation etc, and that provisions relating to these areas would not be commenced until 01 October 2008.
However, a certainty is needed about the implementation timetable and a considerable amount of work is still required, the Government has decided to delay the commencement date for most of the provisions due to be commenced on 01 October 2008 until 01 October 2009.
A major operation is currently ongoing to integrate Companies Registry for NI (CRNI) with CH. This was also scheduled for completion by October 2008. The Government’s decision now means that it will be necessary to delay full integration until October 2009.
The Minister’s full statement may be accessed on http://www.berr.gov.uk/bbf/co-act-2006/index.html