Changes to disclosure obligations - websites, e-communications and order forms
Companies (including LLPs) are now required to disclose certain additional details on their order forms, websites and electronic communications in a change to the existing law which took effect on 1 January 2007.
Original requirements
Companies are required to clearly disclose their name on documents such as business letters, notices, official publications, financial documents such as cheques, promissory notes and bills of exchange and in invoices, receipts and letters of credit.
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Companies are also currently required to include the following information on business letters and order forms: place of registration (England and Wales, or Scotland), registered number and registered office address.
New requirements - Companies must now also:
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Clearly state their name in order forms and on their websites; and
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State place of registration, registered number and registered office details on their website.
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Business letters and order forms will, in future, include documents in both hard copy and electronic form, so if business letters are sent electronically in the form of emails or faxes, those emails and faxes will also need to include this information.
What happens if you don’t comply?
The penalty for non-compliance is a fine, which can be levied on any officer of the company or any person who authorised the issue of the non-complying document or website.
What to do now?
These changes are proposed as a result of the First Company Law Directive, which was implemented into UK law by The Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3429). These regulations were laid before Parliament on 21 December 2006 and took effect on 1 January 2007, leaving many businesses unaware of these provisions, and therefore in breach of the new obligations.
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Our advice to companies and LLPs is to review their documentation now to check that they are complying, and to take steps to make the necessary changes as soon as possible.
There are only 3 checks, which need to be made in order to comply with the additional disclosure provisions:
Ensure that the company's website and order forms include the company name registered at Companies House as well as any trading name. Most sites will already include this.
Check that the company's website includes the place of registration, registered number and registered office details of the company. Many sites will not include this information, so it may need to be added.
If the company sends business correspondence electronically (eg by email or fax), check that email templates, fax front sheets and any other electronic templates (including in Blackberrys) include the required information. This may be achieved by copying the statutory information currently on your company's letterhead into the relevant e-templates.
For information on this and our web review service to ensure compliance with these provisions, contact Helen Goose, Corporate Legal Services on 0117 918 1322, Jackie Sarpong on 020 7400 3311 or email legalservices@jordans.co.uk.
To find out more about the proposed changes to the Companies Act 1985, visit our website www.companiesact.co.uk.
This article has been provided by Jordans Ltd - February 2007