Quarterly News

Companies Act 2006 - where are we now?

It was as far back as November 2006 when the new Companies Act 2006 (the Act) received Royal Assent. Early in 2007 the government outlined a timetable for the Act's implementation and at that time three key dates were announced:

• 1 October 2007
• 6 April 2008
• 1 October 2008

In November 2007 the government made a further announcement that the final implementation date would be delayed until October 2009 and a final timetable has since been published.

A number of the new Act's provisions will however continue to be implemented with effect from 1 October 2008. These include the lifting of restrictions that mean private companies cannot not give financial assistance for the purchase of their own shares without going through a formal 'whitewash' procedure.

Broadly speaking the sections of the new Act that deal with company formation and particulars will now not come into force until 1 October 2009. The reason given is that the necessary changes to the systems and processes at Companies House may not be completed in time.

What's next?

The next key implementation date is 6 April 2008 when provisions relating to company reports, accounts and audits will be introduced. These provisions will generally apply to accounting periods that begin on or after 6 April 2008. At the time of going to print proposals were also in place to increase the financial thresholds that determine when a company or group qualifies as small or medium-sized and also for audit exemption.

The filing deadline for private company accounts will be reduced from ten to nine months and from seven to six months for public companies. Again at the time of going to print higher penalties for the late filing of accounts are also proposed. The range of penalties is expected to extend between £150 and £7,500 (currently £100 to £5,000).

The exemption from preparing consolidated accounts for medium-sized groups will also be lost for accounting periods beginning on or after this date.

We will have more detail on these and other changes in future editions.

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