Public Companies: UK Law

The United Kingdom is a common law jurisdiction. However, the main source of company law is the Companies Act (CA) dated 2006, which has been in force since November 2008. Many of the provisions contained in the Act have been inserted, over the years, to implement European directives and are therefore common to other European jurisdictions: the United Kingdom was part of the European Union until 31 January 2020, when the so-called “Brexit” took place. The provisions deriving from European directives are still in force despite the UK’s exit from the European Union (see Sections 6.1 and 6.2 below on European directives). The Companies Act is completed by the Model Articles of Association, drafted by the Secretary of State, which function as standard default articles that a company can use; by way of regulation, the Model Articles are provided as a schedule to the Companies Act 2006. Under the Companies Act 2006, the types of companies are private companies limited by shares, private companies limited by guarantee, and public companies. Allocation of powers between the general meeting of shareholders and the board of directors. Directors' duties and liabilities.