Did you know...? Some practical points for companies - March 2015

This article was produced by Olswang LLP, which joined with CMS on 1 May 2017.

Did you know...?

……that the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill is moving through the legislative process apace? We reported on this Bill in our last edition (here) and following some amendments on its passage through Parliament, it now appears as though it is on course to receive Royal Assent before the general election. BIS has published a proposed timetable for implementation of the Bill once it is enacted. If the timetable is met we should expect the 9 month period for conversion of existing bearer shares to start 2 months after Royal Assent; the prohibition on the appointment of new corporate directors to come into force in October this year; and the requirement to keep a register of beneficial owners of shares to come into force in January 2016. Changes to the statement of capital and to the filing and company registers regime are expected from April 2016.

……that, with high-profile cyber attacks never far from the headlines, BIS has recently published cyber security guidance for non-executive directors here? The guidance aims to help non-executive directors work with other board members on the oversight of cyber risks at their company. It looks at some of the potential risk areas and sets out key questions the non-executive director should ask themselves and their board colleagues about how cyber risk is managed. Olswang's data protection team produces a weekly round up of legal and regulatory developments in the sphere of cyber security. You can view past editions and sign up to receive the weekly email alert by visiting Olswang's Datonomy blog here.

……that two new sets of regulations came into force on 31 January 2015 simplifying the law on company, LLP and business names and trading disclosures? The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business Names (Sensitive Words and Expressions) Regulations 2014 reduce by 26 the number of words and expressions which require prior approval before they can be used in a registered name. The removal of words such as "group" and "holdings" from the list is particularly welcome as it should make the registration of new names in corporate groups more straightforward.

The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosure) Regulations 2015 extend the characters permitted to be used in registered names to include, for example, letters with accents. In addition certain words like "export" "import" "group" and "holdings" have been removed from the list of "same as" words. Again, this should make registering new names in groups easier as "London Bridge Holdings Limited" will now be regarded as different from "London Bridge Limited" meaning letters of consent will not be required prior to registration. In terms of trading disclosures, where more than five companies or LLPs operate or have their registered office in the same place, the requirement to keep the names of all such entities on display has now been removed and instead it will be sufficient for the names to be available for inspection.

Any information contained in this article is intended as a general review of the subjects featured and detailed specialist advice should always be taken before taking or refraining from taking any action. If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please get in touch with your usual Olswang contact. This article was included in our Olswang Corporate Quarterly Spring 2015 publication.