Corporate publications

 

The following articles have been written by lawyers at Speechly Bircham. Please get in touch with the authors if you would like more information on a particular topic.

Articles and case studies are in pdf format which can be viewed using Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it here.

The Companies Act 2006 - Financial Assistance
By now, most companies will have been affected in some way by the Companies Act 2006. On 1 October a new part comes into force... read more

Directors' conflicts of interest
From 1 October 2008, directors will be under a new duty to avoid situations where they may have interests or duties which could conflict with interests of, or duties owed to the company. David Hick's investigates... read more
This article was first published in Speechy Bircham's Inbrief (July 2008)

Corporate Review 2007 has now been published...read more

The Companies Act 2006
More information on the recent changes... read more

The Companies Act 2006 - update
A major new part of the Companies Act 2006 came into force on 1 October 2007. The remaining parts of the new Act will be brought into force in April and October 2008. Below we highlight some of the 1 October 2007 changes now in force, in particular their impact on private companies. (October 2007)...read more

The Companies Act 2006 – New directors’ duties: are you
ready?
On 1 October 2007 a substantial part of the new Act will come into force – in particular new rules relating to company directors. Below we highlight some of the significant new duties for company directors and suggest what companies can do to prepare. (July 2007) ...read more

Corporate advice & transactions
2006 in review (March 2007) ...read more

A greener way to talk to your shareholders
Changes in the Companies Act 2006 enable companies to communicate to their shareholders via email and the company website (March 2007) ...read more

New AIM disclosure requirements
Following the revised AIM rules, which were published in February 2007, here are the changes that AIM companies will need to put in place (March 2007) ...read more

Changes to the AIM rules
On 20 February 2007 the London Stock Exchange published a new rulebook for Nominated Advisers (Nomads) as a codification of Nomad best practice. Although intended to reflect existing market practice it will inevitably require Nomads to tighten up their processes and record keeping (February 2007) ...read more

Establishing a business in the UK
The UK economy is highly attractive when compared with those of other European countries. As well as the strength of its economy there are a number of other advantages the UK can offer businesses (November 2006) ... read more

Recent developments in public company law
The requirement for companies listed on the LSE to produce an OFR was originally introduced into UK law by the Companies Act 1985 (Operating & Financial Review and Directors’ Report etc) Regulations (June 2006)... read more

Even more rules for directors?
The Company Law Reform Bill is now before Parliament. It is likely to become law in the autumn and covers many things including setting out the rules on the duties of directors in statute for the first time (March 2006)... read more

Directors' liability and indemnification
New provisions relating to the protection of directors and other officers from potential liabilities came into force on 6 April this year yet they may be unnoticed by many (November 2005)... read more

New Prospectus Regulations - in the nick of time will (just about) do
Just a few weeks before the 1 July deadline for the new regime was due to take effect, The Prospectus Regulations 2005 and new AIM Rules implementing the EU Prospectus Directive were finally made available (July 2005 )... read more

New rules for share issues
Any company looking to raise finance by offering its shares should be aware of the new Prospectus Directive which is due to be implemented across the EU from 1 July 2005 .... read more

OFRs: help or hindrance?
Under new detailed proposals from the DTI, all UK quoted companies will have to produce a new statutory Operating and Financial Review (OFR) for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2005... read more

AIM changes to avoid Brussels red tape
AIM has changed its regulatory status to avoid being burdened by new European directives (November 2004)... read more

Bridging the finance gap
The Government is proposing to create a new investment vehicle for small companies. If the proposals go ahead, Enterprise Capital Funds could open the way for business angels to play a wider role in fund management with a lower regulatory threshold... read more

In the pipeline...
PIPE transactions are a useful way for small to mid cap listed companies raise new funding. In this article, Corporate partner Andrew Collins looks at how these transactions work in practice... read more

Heads of Terms: when are they legally binding?
Heads of terms are frequently used to record the key terms of corporate transactions or commercial agreements before the lawyers start drafting. It is tempting not to involve lawyers in drawing up heads of terms, on the basis that the heads deal with commercial, not legal issues – but this can be a costly mistake.… read more

Package tours unwrapped
The sale and performance of package travel, package holidays and package tours sold or offered for sale in the United Kingdom are regulated by the Package Tours Regulations. The Regulations aim to protect the consumer in the event that the services promised by a tour operator fail to transpire and applies to travel, packages and holidays sold or offered for sale in the UK... read more