Product Description

The new Companies Act represents the most fundamental reform of company law for more than fifty years. The law on private companies will be comprehensively revised to make it easier to set up and run such a company. There is a new statutory definition of directors' duties and liabilities, and new draft models of association. Much of previous company law will be repealed or amended by the Act. Key aspects of the legislation include: small business - restructuring the law to make it easier and more cost-effective to operate a small company; promotion of shareholder engagement - enhancing powers available to proxies and increasing the rights of indirect investors; reform of the audit system to increase auditor liability and enhance audit quality; codification of directors' duties; full statement of the law as it affects private companies; and reform and modernisation of company law as a whole. This timely book provides expert commentary on the key provisions of the Act, and how they will affect the practice of company law. It includes the full text of the Act.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #561368 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 936 pages

About the Author
Gary Scanlan is a Solicitor and Reader In Law at City University London. His books on the Law of Limitation and Partnership with Professor Terence Prime have been cited in Law Commission Reports both in England and other Common Law Jurisdictions. His books and articles are frequently cited in the courts, including the House of Lords (for instance by Baroness Hale in the leading Bracknell Forest Borough Council case). Andrew Harvey, LLB Solicitor (Hons), has many years experience in the design and delivery of legal education and training. He currently lectures for Central Law Training on Company and Commercial subjects. He was co-author of the textbook Business Law & Practice and its companion volume Business Law & Practice: Legislation Handbook. Terence Prime is a Solicitor and was formerly Professor of Law at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of many books including Law of Limitation (with Gary Scanlan) and Law and Practice of Joint Ventures (with Gary Scanlan and Sarah Gale). Tunde Ogowewo LLB, LLM, PhD, Solicitor, Barrister (Middle Temple) is Senior Lecturer in Law at King's College London. He is the author of numerous articles and The Market for Corporate Control and the Investments and Securities Act 1999. Mark Lewis is a partner in the corporate team at Wright Hassall and has particular experience in mergers and acquisitions, charities and other not for profit organisations, joint ventures, LLPs, partnership law. He has been a contributing editor of Butterworths Corporate Law Service for over 15 years and is also a contributing editor of Butterworths Company Law Guide.

Customer Reviews

The authors may wish they had reflected longer.....
Useful though this guide may be in some respects as a commentary on the new Act, it will date extremely rapidly. As some of the weaknesses of the legislation are brought to light, the book's assertiveness about the quality of the drafting of the new Act is is probably premature.

For instance, to cite only one example, the authors say that the new Act is "clear and explicit" in respect of the appointment of company representatives (as proxies) to company meetings. More studied examination of these provisions has revealed a minefield of problems, brought about by inadequate thinking on the part of the sponsoring department (now BERR but previously -- as the authors quote -- the DTI). Almost daily, new issues come to light that have to be resolved before the Act can be effectively implemented, making definitive pronouncements a bit of a risky occupation.

It might be worth seeing how the dust settles by keeping track of the debate through professional journals before you splash out a lot of money on definitive views that remain definitive for only a very brief period.