Statutory Provisions for Company Secretaries and Directors

The Companies Act 2006 (the Act) introduces significant changes to company law in the UK. The Act is currently being introduced in stages over a 3 year period and a number of provisions are currently in force. The Act will be fully in force by October 2009.

From 6th April 2008 private companies no longer need to appoint a company secretary but they can continue to do so if they wish. Instead a sole director of a private company will be able to act as secretary or to outsource the secretary’s duties to a third party.

Under the Act all companies must have at least one natural person as a director so a company cannot be the sole director of another company. If a company’s only director is a company, it will require to appoint a natural person.

A new minimum age of 16 has been set for directors. The appointment of any underage director will be void.

A company is required to keep a Register of Directors. There is now, however, a need only for the Register to contain service addresses for directors and not details of their residential addresses. A company must though keep a separate register of directors’ residential addresses – though that will remain confidential.

For more information please email Corra Irwin or telephone 01463 239393.

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is based on our current understanding of the law. It has been produced for information purposes only. Professional advice should always be sought before taking any action.

Macleod & MacCallum cannot take any responsibility for loss incurred through acting or failing to act on the basis of anything contained in this publication.