Covid-19 – end of certain relaxations for companies

Many companies took advantage of various relaxations afforded to them by the government during the pandemic. Some of the relaxations, which were introduced to help companies with administrative issues, are no longer available.

Shareholder meetings

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) contains provisions that temporarily relaxed the company meeting requirements in the Companies Act 2006 and allowed shareholder meetings to take place by electronic or any other means. These relaxations ceased to be available for meetings after 30 March 2021.

Companies House filing deadlines

Automatic extensions for various filing deadlines under the Companies Act, including for filing accounts, had also been granted by CIGA. These relaxations end for filing deadlines that fall after 5 April 2021. However, Companies House has confirmed that, whilst there is no longer an automatic extension, companies can still apply for a 3-month extension. More information is available here.

FCA extensions for financial reports

The FCA guidance which gives listed companies an additional two months to finalise their annual report, and an additional month to publish their half-yearly financial reports, remains in place. More information is available here.

Published 8 April, 2021