First Company Law Directive 
by Mark Roper, March 2007
Introduction
This article is intended to explain what the first company law directive is, who it is applicable to, how a business can be compliant and why a business should be compliant.
What the directive is
As part of provisions made in January 2007, the First Company Law Directive concerns changes to the filing of company documents and also importantly changes to the information companies must provide on electronic communications. The two areas are:
1) Companies should be able to file all basic documents via electronic means and the registries shall maintain documents electronically.
2) Information about the company must be provided as follows:
a) The company's name must appear legibly in a number of company publications, including: business letters, notices, websites, bills, cheques, invoices, receipts and letters of credit.
b) The company's place of registration, registration number, registered office and other details (*) must appear on all business letters, order forms and websites. Business letters includes emails.
* Other details include for investment companies, the fact they are an investment company and for limited companies, the fact they are limited, unless exempt.
Who it is applicable to
The directive is applicable to all registered companies in the UK.
How to be compliant
To be compliant, companies must ensure that the relevant information is specified on their publications. For websites, the information in 2b) must be shown. Also for emails, the same information should be shown in the signature area. For example, the typical information most companies didn't provide, but do need to provide is:
Registered office: [YOUR REGISTERED OFFICE ADDRESS]
Registered in: [WHERE REGISTERED - e.g. 'England and Wales'], [YOUR COMPANY NUMBER]
Why to be compliant
Any business which does not comply with the directive will be in breach of the Companies Act and may face fines.
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About the author
Mark Roper is the proprietor of ropernet IT. ropernet IT supply web design & development, site hosting, stock photography and domain registration services. For full information please visit www.ropernetit.co.uk
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Disclaimer: The information and recommendations contained in this article aim to be correct. However, please do not regard any part of this article as legal advice. We would recommend that you contact a Lawyer if you require legal advice.