Companies Act 2006

• Companies Act 2006
  

  Full text of the Act available in the original version as enacted and the latest available revised version.

Associated documents are also available to download in PDF format:

• Table of destinations
• Table of origins

Consolidated versions of primary legislation are available from legal databases such as Lexis+. ICAEW members and ACA students visiting Chartered Accountants’ Hall can access Lexis+ in the Business Centre. If you are not planning a visit, the library enquiry team can supply extracts from consolidated legislation by email on request.

The implementation of the Companies Act 2006 was completed on 1 October 2009.

During the implementation period, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) published a series of guides and checklists designed to help businesses make the transition, including:

• Companies Act 2006: A summary of what it means for private companies
• Companies Act 2006: Private company information
• Guidance for UK Companies on accounting and reporting: Requirements under the Companies Act 2006 and the application of the IAS regulation
• Companies Act 2006 final implementation – changes to constitutional documents, including model articles: a summary of what the new approach means

Further historical information on the implementation of the Act (and related guidance) is available via GOV.UK and The National Archives.

Since being enacted, the Companies Act 2006 has been amended or otherwise affected by many pieces of secondary legislation, such as the following: 

• The Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/860)
• The Companies, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts and Non-Financial Reporting) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1245)
• The Companies, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/980)
• The Small Companies (Micro-Entities’ Accounts) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3008)
• The Companies (Late Filing Penalties) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Filing Periods and Late Filing Penalties) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/497)
• The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/410)
• The Small Companies and Groups (Accounts and Directors' Report) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/409)
• The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment) (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/393)

A list of all changes made to the Act by subsequent legislation can be found on Legislation.gov.uk. An archived list of regulations and commencement orders relating to the Act made up to September 2011 is available via The National Archives.

Some pieces of secondary legislation are available via Legislation.gov.uk in their original form only. Consolidated versions of secondary legislation are available from legal databases such as Lexis+. ICAEW members and ACA students visiting Chartered Accountants’ Hall can access Lexis+ in the Business Centre. If you are not planning a visit, the library enquiry team can supply extracts from consolidated legislation by email on request.

Aspects of the Act have been subject to interpretation in a number of legal cases, such as:

• BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others
  Commentary from Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP on BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others — a significant case considering directors' duty to creditors under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006.
• Eclairs Group Limited v JKX Oil & Gas Plc
  Article from the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright on Eclairs Group Limited v JKX Oil & Gas Plc, an important ruling on section 171 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Library maintains a dedicated guide to researching case law, which may help if you are seeking to identify cases on particular aspects of the Act.

Further titles

In addition to the above titles, we offer instant, full text access to a collection of eBooks published by the Chartered Governance Institute (formerly ICSA), many of which cover aspects of the Companies Act 2006.

• Browse eBooks from the Chartered Governance Institute

• View a list of all books in our collection on the Companies Act 2006
• View a list of articles in our collection on the Companies Act 2006 

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.