COmpanies should, by now, have acted on new legislation which came into force earlier this year requiring all companies to provide information relating to their company particulars on their website and on electronic documentation.
This legislation has extended the existing requirements of the Companies Act and will now also apply to Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).
The existing legislation under the Companies Act previously required that certain information must be applied to a company's stationery and to hardcopy documents only.
The Act required that the company name appeared on all correspondence and business documents, banking documents (cheques etc), invoices, receipts, bills of exchange and any official business publications used or produced by a company. The legislation has now extended this to include all a company's order forms.
Prior to the new legislation, the Companies Act also required that a company's place of registration (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland etc) and the company's registration number were to be included on all business correspondence and order forms, as above.
The updated legislation means that all of these provisions are now also applicable to a company's website and to any "document" in any form, including electronic documents, it produces.
For example, e-mails could now potentially be classed as business letters. Companies may wish to consider including the required information within the automatic disclaimer, which typically features at the bottom of an email.
For websites, it's sufficient to include the required information in an "About Us" or "Legal Info" section.
Companies should have already reviewed all their stationery, documents and website and made any necessary changes to ensure they comply. The information is not complicated and providing it should be relatively straightforward.
However, if you are in any doubt as to what information is required, it is best to seek advice.
The new legislation made it an offence not to include the required information and failure to comply can result in stiff penalties.
* Zoe Rayment is a member of the company law team at Blackett Hart & Pratt LLP Solicitors. She can be contacted on 01325-466794.
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