London Registrars

Thursday 29 April saw the Financial Services Act 2021 finally receive Royal Assent, in the process, becoming the first financial services primary legislation the UK Parliament has passed since the UK’s departure from the European single market. The Act – formerly the Financial Services Bill 2019-21 – was introduced in the House of Commons on 21 October 2020, and makes reforms to 22 distinct areas. The background of the Act The history of the Bill can be traced to the 2019 Queen’s Speech background paper, which expressed a desire to use the upcoming parliamentary session to bring forward legislation to “ensure that the UK maintains its world-leading regulatory standards and remains open to international markets after we leave the EU.” The Bill’s stated objectives at the time of its introduction to the House of Commons included enhancing the UK’s prudential standards and promoting financial stability; promoting openness between the UK and international markets; and maintaini...

As we touched on in our previous blog post on this legislation , one of the Government’s earliest responses to the coronavirus crisis in 2020 was to bring forth what became the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, or CIGA. Now, various temporary measures contained within the Act have been extended until 30 June 2021, including: The continued suspension of the rules around wrongful trading liability. This measure dictates that a director will not be deemed responsible for any worsening of a company’s financial position between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2020, and between 26 November 2020 and 30 June 2021 The continuation of the blanket restriction – as has been in place since 27 April 2020 – on the presentation of winding-up petitions based on statutory demands served on or after 1 March 2020 Continued restrictions on the presentation of winding-up petitions and winding-up orders Small suppliers still being excluded from the prohibition on...