IoD champions next stage of Red Tape Challenge

Dated: 26 January 2012

Dr. Roger Barker, Head of Corporate Governance at the IoD, has been appointed by the Government as Company Law Champion in the next stage of the Red Tape Challenge, which begins today.

For a three week period (between 26th January and 16th February 2012) the focus of the Challenge is Company Law. The IoD will work with its members and the wider business community to consider ways in which company law regulations can be improved, simplified or abolished.

As Company Law Champion, Dr. Barker will assist the Government in the evaluation of the public’s proposals. He will seek to champion any ideas that could lead to a simplified and more business-friendly legal framework.

Areas of company law regulation which will be considered by the process include the following:

  • Internal workings of companies and partnerships: Rules on shares and share capital, requirement to hold information at business premises and rules on meetings and resolutions.
  • Accounts and returns: The content, form and auditing requirements of financial accounts and other reports.
  • Business names: The rules covering company names
  • Disclosure of company information: The regulations covering the information companies must supply to the official register.

Commenting on his role as Company Law Champion, Dr. Barker said:

“The Red Tape Challenge is an excellent opportunity for companies to get their voice heard and help inform government thinking and policies. Companies need to spend time on doing business, creating jobs and growing – not spending time filling in forms for no good reason.

We must be sure that regulation is proportionate and that the company law framework protects companies and their creditors, whilst minimising red tape and making the running of a company as simple as possible. I look forward to seeing some new and exciting proposals from business to help inform this important work.”

The Red Tape Challenge was launched by the Prime Minister in April 2011. It gives business and the public the chance to have their say on regulations in a number of key policy areas.
IoD members and other interested parties are invited to submit their views on company law regulation to the Government’s Red Tape Challenge website. Alternatively, they can send their comments directly to Dr. Barker at the IoD (roger.barker@iod.com).

 

ENDS

Contact Points

Edwin Morgan
Communications and Policy Officer
Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5ED
Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 3392
Mob: +44 (0)7814 386 243
Email: edwin.morgan@iod.com
Website: www.iod.com/policy

Notes to editors

  • The IoD (Institute of Directors) was founded in 1903 and obtained a Royal Charter in 1906. The IoD is a non-party political organisation with upwards of 45,000 members in the United Kingdom and overseas. Membership includes directors from right across the business spectrum – from media to manufacturing, e-business to the public and voluntary sectors. Members include CEOs of large corporations as well as entrepreneurial directors of start-up companies.
  • The IoD offers a wide range of business services which include business centre facilities (including ten UK regional centres [three in London, Reading, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Belfast] and one each in Paris and Brussels), conferences, networking events, virtual offices and hotdesking, issues-led guides and literature, as well as free access to business information and advisory services and a comprehensive Information Centre. The IoD places great emphasis on director development and has established a certified qualification for directors – Chartered Director – as well as running specific board-level and director-level training and individual career mentoring programmes.
  • In addition, the IoD provides an effective voice to represent the interests of its members to government and key opinion-formers at the highest levels. These include ministers, constituency MPs, Select Committee members and senior civil servants. IoD policies and views are actively promoted to the national, regional and trade media.
  • For further information, visit our website: www.iod.com
  • You can also keep up to date with the latest views from the IoD on twitter.com/The_IoD and at blogs.iod.com