On the 1st January 2007 legislation came into force which extends the duty of a company to make disclosures of its details in relation to its correspondence. The existing requirements relate to paper based communications and require the following information to be included:
- the company's name;
- the company's registered number;
- the company's place of registration (i.e. England and Wales or Scotland);
- the situation of the company's registered office.
The legislation now requires that this information also appears on the following:
- all company order forms;
- all company websites.
It is not necessary that the information appear on every page of a website. However, so the information is easily accessible, it is advisable that it appear on the front page or homepage of the website or under an "about us" or "legal" section of the website.
Additionally, where the information would be required on a hard copy document, it will now also be required where the document is in electronic format. Consequently, companies should now ensure that footers of emails contain the relevant information.
Failure to comply with the requirements may result in both the company and an officer of the company who issues a document being liable to a fine. You should note that if an officer of a company signs a cheque or other documents such as an order for money or goods in which the company's name is not mentioned, in addition to a fine, he will be liable to the recipient of such documents for their value if it is not paid by the company.