Registration of charges created by companies and limited liability partnerships

This consultation aims to ensure that any changes to the existing scheme took account of the views of UK and overseas companies, limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and their creditors, legal advisors to companies and LLPs and their creditors, and to those who assess the financial status of companies.

In January 2013, the department laid draft regulations to reform the current system of registration for company charges, which dates back to the start of the 20th century. Over one hundred years later and following extensive consultation a fully-modernised system has been developed, which aims to:

• streamline procedures and reduce costs for those putting information on the public record, in particular by enabling electronic filing
• reduce uncertainty as to what charges must be registered
• replace two current schemes with a single scheme for all UK companies
• improve access to instruments creating companies’ charges

We estimated that these reforms, taken together, could save those presenting the required documents to the Registrar of Companies, around £21 million per annum.

The new system came into force on 6 April 2013, following Parliamentary approval.

The regulations are made under section 894 of the Companies Act 2006 and amend the provisions of Part 25 of the Act. The provisions have also been applied, with minor modifications, to limited liability partnerships by a second statutory instrument which amended (by substitution) Part 9 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1804). Those regulations were made under section 15 of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000.

Draft Regulations on the Registration of Company Charges: responding to issues arising from consultation

In spring 2011, all those who responded to the 2010 consultation were asked for their views on certain issues that need to be resolved before the Regulations are drafted. The ‘Registration of company charges: issues to be resolved before preparation of draft regulations’. The deadline for responses to this document was 13 May 2011.

Final review of the draft Regulations on the Registration of Company Charges

In August 2012, we gave stakeholders a final opportunity to consider the text of the draft regulations before they were laid before Parliament and also made any necessary preparations for when the proposed changes come into force. People were invited to raise concerns about any significant effects, intended or unintended, that these changes might cause by 7 September 2012.