Topic Gateway Series UK Company Law UK Company Law updated Definition and concept Company Law(known as Corporate Law in some countries)refers to the formation and governance of corporate entities.In the UK,the responsible body is the Corporate Law and Governance Directorate of the Department for Business,Enterprise and Regulatory Reform(BERR),formerly the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI).This directorate also represents UK interests in the development of EU company law.It is worth noting that some matters are dealt with in law while other aspects of corporate governance are dealt with in codes of best practice. Context In the current syllabus,CIMA students will learn and may be examined on this topic in paper C5 Business Law,Financial Analysis(paper P8)and Financial Accounting and Tax Principles(paper P7). Overview The main piece of legislation is the Companies Act 2006(CA 06).This new Act is the largest single piece of legislation ever passed by the UK Parliament,and is the product of eight years of consultation on company law reform.CA 06 is a consolidation of all the company law provisions of CA 85,CA 89 and the Companies(Audit,Investigations and Community Enterprise)Act 2004 or C(AICE)04. The elements of those acts which were not incorporated into CA 06 relate to community enterprise companies or to investigations which are wider in scope than just companies.These remnants are listed in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the explanatory notes to CA 06 which can be found on the BERR Companies Act web pages.Effectively CA 06 repeals and replaces about two-thirds of CA 85. The Government's motivation for CA 06 was to increase shareholder engagement and to promote a long-term view of investment,rather than decisions made on the basis of immediate returns.It also aimed to simplify regulation by 'thinking small first',recognising that the vast majority of UK companies are small,and to achieve cost savings for industry. 3Topic Gateway Series UK Company Law 3 UK Company Law - updated Definition and concept Company Law (known as Corporate Law in some countries) refers to the formation and governance of corporate entities. In the UK, the responsible body is the Corporate Law and Governance Directorate of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), formerly the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). This directorate also represents UK interests in the development of EU company law. It is worth noting that some matters are dealt with in law while other aspects of corporate governance are dealt with in codes of best practice. Context In the current syllabus, CIMA students will learn and may be examined on this topic in paper C5 Business Law, Financial Analysis (paper P8) and Financial Accounting and Tax Principles (paper P7). Overview The main piece of legislation is the Companies Act 2006 (CA 06). This new Act is the largest single piece of legislation ever passed by the UK Parliament, and is the product of eight years of consultation on company law reform. CA 06 is a consolidation of all the company law provisions of CA 85, CA 89 and the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 or C(AICE) 04. The elements of those acts which were not incorporated into CA 06 relate to community enterprise companies or to investigations which are wider in scope than just companies. These remnants are listed in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the explanatory notes to CA 06 which can be found on the BERR Companies Act web pages. Effectively CA 06 repeals and replaces about two-thirds of CA 85. The Government’s motivation for CA 06 was to increase shareholder engagement and to promote a long-term view of investment, rather than decisions made on the basis of immediate returns. It also aimed to simplify regulation by ‘thinking small first’, recognising that the vast majority of UK companies are small, and to achieve cost savings for industry