Companies that have incurred costs in providing a ‘statement of capital’ as required by the Companies Act 2006 may be benefit from government plans to reduce the burden on business.

Since 1 October 2009, companies have been required to provide a ‘statement of capital’. This is a snapshot of a company’s share capital that must be produced in each annual return, as well as at various other stages of a company’s life. In the course of this summer it became clear to BIS that there were negative, unintended consequences in the legal provision. These included:

• Providing many pages of information of “doubtful value”;
• Difficulty in accurately calculating aggregated figures;
• Complaints from companies that there might not be a correct response to some of the questions.

Consequently, BIS has launched a consultation setting out the problems that companies are experiencing and is seeking input on whether the information requirements should be changed. The consultation also looks at ways to balance the interests of third parties seeking this information with the cost to the company of supplying it. It sets out a range of possible options for changing the information that must be given out.

Companies have until 11 January 2010 to make their views known.