The clock is ticking…the SBEE is coming!
David Le, Corporate and Commercial Solicitor, Genus Law
8th October, 2015
Following on from our recent updates on the forthcoming Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, David Le, Corporate and Commercial Solicitor at Genus Law, outlines the updated timetable for implementation of some of its provisions.
Companies House has updated the timetable for implementation of some of the new transparency and filing provisions introduced by The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. The aim of the measures is to reduce bureaucracy, increase transparency and enhance the UK’s credentials as a trusted place to do business. Here’s a quick summary of some of the changes that we think you should be aware of and when you need to implement changes.
October 2015
Officer Date of Birth – The day of birth of directors and the company secretary is to be suppressed from the public register at Companies House in order to protect the identity and personal data of officers.
Officer Consent – Directors and the company secretary will no longer need to consent to act when registering at Companies House. Instead, the company will confirm that they have consented to their appointment and Companies House will contact them to verify this and provide directors with information about directors’ duties.
Accelerated Strike Off – The process for striking a company off the register will be simplified and accelerated.
December 2015
Resolution of Director Disputes – Simplified measures to remove directors appointed without their knowledge from the public register at Companies House will be introduced.
Resolution of Registered Office Disputes – Simplified measures to resolve the situation where an address is being used as a company’s registered office without consent will be introduced.
April 2016
Creation of the PSC Register – Companies will be required to keep a register of the details of any person that holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights in a company, has control of a majority of its board of directors or can exercise significant influence or control over the company.
June 2016
Registration of the PSC Register
– The intention is that the PSC Register will be publicly available from June 2016.
Optional Companies House Register – Private companies may choose to no longer keep private statutory registers and can instead elect to have this information kept and maintained on the public register at Companies House.
Annual Confirmation of Information – Companies House filings are set to be simplified with the current requirement to file an annual return being replaced with a confirmation statement where companies will be required to check and confirm information on the public register, as well as notify the Registrar of Companies of any changes.
Disqualification of Directors – The directors’ disqualification regime will be reinforced and brought up to date.
Statements of Capital – The format of the statement of capital is being amended to make it simpler and contain more useful information.
October 2016
Prohibition of Corporate Directors – As a general rule, companies will be prohibited from appointing corporate directors and existing corporate directors will automatically cease to be directors from October 2016 unless they fall within certain specified limited exceptions.
If you need any help or advice on how the forthcoming changes will affect your business, please contact us via email to [email protected] or call us on 0113 320 4540.