3) Prior to the introduction of the civil penalty provisions, the
directors' duties provisions were criminal provisions.
The speakers covered the performance of the main market and the Alternative Investment Market in 2007, the recruitment of non-executive directors and
directors' duties under the Companies Act 2006.
Under the Act,
directors' duties are now so broad that there is a strong case for companies to offer insurance for life, because liability for decisions taken today does not end just because the person taking them has left the company," she added.
The union commissioned a study by the Centre for Corporate Accountability which said that, since voluntary guidance on
directors' duties was introduced in 2001, only 44% of companies had appointed a senior official responsible for health and safety.
In particular the new Act, due to be rolled out between now and October 2008, includes a set of newly-codified
directors' duties.
For small companies, of particular interest are the changes affecting
directors' duties.
Directors' duties To date, the extent of the duties owed by company directors has been based largely on unclear case law - most of which is extremely old.
The piece identifies some points of departure: a separate business corporations statute, elimination of the bifurcation of
directors' duties (as between the statute and the general law), substitution of a comprehensive personal property security regime for the troublesome insolvent trading provisions and reconceptualisation of the complexities of capital maintenance rules.
Coverage is of the regulatory framework and issues such as corporate structure, ownership, boards, disclosure and accountability, shareholder rights, stakeholder relations,
directors' duties, and environmental and social responsibility.
Delegates will look at the developments in both the main market and the Alternative Investment Market and examine the new statement of
directors' duties and the selection of non-executive directors.
We are seeing an increase in small businesses in the UK today and hand in hand with this an increase in the number of directors who are unclear of their
directors' duties.
