The final implementation of the Companies Act 2006 has a considerable impact on the way UK limited companies are formed. This will change the way in which companies are registered and also affect Company Formation Agents that provide formation services.

On 01 October 2009 the last changes of the Companies Act 2006 came into force. This introduced new constitutional documents that govern the way companies operate. Previously all companies had a set of Memorandum and Articles of Association. These set out how the company can conduct business and how the company will operate. Form October 2009 these will be replaced by a single document simply referred to as the ‘model articles’.

Under the Companies Act 2006 a set of model articles has been produced. All companies formed from October 2009 onwards can adopt the model articles as standard or they can adopt their own amended articles based on the new act. It is likely that some company formation agents will draft their own amended articles to allow companies more flexibility in their operations. Companies that are limited by guarantee may also need to amend the model articles to suit their personal requirements.

The following file is a sample of the new model articles -

sample model articles 

It is likely that many companies will adopt these articles as standard.