The Companies Act 2006 is the largest Act ever, with 1300 sections and 16 schedules, and is the most significant change to company law legislation in the past 20 years. It will be fully implemented on 1 October 2009.

Companies should be aware of, and check compliance with, all the new requirements and ensure that, where possible, they take advantage of the flexibility which the Act has introduced.

The Corporate Team at Bristows has updated its headline 'A-Z' reference guide to steer you through the main areas of the Act and identify the key practical changes. Please click on the headings below for summary information on these.  If provisions apply to public quoted companies, we have indicated (in the headings) whether these apply solely to main market listed companies or to all UK listed companies (including AIM and Plus).

Please click on the letters above for an alphabetical listing of the topic areas. Under each heading you will find summary information on the relevant changes. If you wish to view the A to Z guide in full, please open the .pdf version under "documents" on the right hand side of the page.

Contents of the A-Z reference guide are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.

If you would like advice on the Companies Act 2006 then please contact one of the corporate partners or the member of the corporate team with whom you usually deal.