UK Government: Laws to improve corporate conduct and create community interest companies receive Royal Assent

The Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Bill has received Royal Assent and will help protect Britain against Enron style corporate scandals - as well as creating a new type of company specifically designed for social enterprises. The Act implements safeguards recommended by po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inM2 Presswire p. 1
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published Coventry Normans Media Ltd 29.10.2004
Subjects
Accounting
Annual reports
Auditing standards
Auditors
Audits
Community
Corporate governance
Directors
Enforcement
Financial reporting
Investigations
Liability
Regulation
Scandals
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Summary:The Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Bill has received Royal Assent and will help protect Britain against Enron style corporate scandals - as well as creating a new type of company specifically designed for social enterprises. The Act implements safeguards recommended by post-Enron/WorldCom reviews and creates a new form of company for social enterprise. In particular it strengthens the independent regulation of the audit profession and the enforcement of company accounting requirements, both concerns highlighted by the Enron and WorldCom scandals. It gives auditors greater powers to get the information they need to do a proper job, and increases company investigators' powers to uncover misconduct. Note: The timetable below sets out the provisional timing for commencement of all the Act's provisions. With the exception of the sections on commencement, extent and short title, all the Act's provisions must be implemented by commencement order. Timing is provisional because in some cases (eg the provisions on community interest companies) commencement will depend on external factors such as getting all the logistics (including the CIC regulator and staff) in place. The commencement timetable relates only to commencement of the individual sections themselves. It does not relate to commencement of regulations or orders made under the powers provided in some of the sections (such regulations and orders will themselves be subject to Parliamentary procedure). The descriptions below are summaries of the various provisions and should not be taken as substitutes for the provisions themselves.