Companies Act 2006

The Companies Act comprises approximately 1,300 sections and introduces new legislation which reflects the changing business environment.

The Act provides for a single company law regime applying to the whole of the UK, so that companies will be UK companies rather than GB companies or Northern Ireland companies as at present. In Scotland, there are several areas where the Act deals with matters that are devolved.

Summary of the Act

PART	SUMMARY
1 to 7	The fundamentals of what a company is, how it can be formed and what it can be called.
8 to 12	The members (shareholders) and officers (management) of a company
13 and 14	How companies may take decisions
15 and 16	The safeguards for ensuring that the officers of a company are accountable to its members
17 to 25	Raising share capital, capital maintenance, annual returns, and company charges
26 to 28	Company reconstructions, mergers and takeovers
29 to 39	The regulatory framework, application to companies not formed under the Companies Acts and other company law provisions
40 to 42	Overseas disqualification of directors, business names and statutory auditors
43	Transparency obligations
44 to 47	Miscellaneous and general

Summary of sections of the Act

Please click on the links to expand and collapse the following navigation bars for more information and links to additional parts of the Act.

A more in depth look at the act

A more in depth look at the Act

An historical record of the key changes

The Companies Act changes were introduced over almost three years. For the record, we include a historical account of when the various changes were enacted.

Company secretary

A private company is not required to have a secretary, while a public company must have a secretary.

Directors' liabilities

Companies Act provisions protecting directors from liability