The new Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will help maximise your business’ chance of survival throughout the coronavirus pandemic, it has been suggested.
The remarks come after the Government introduced the new laws to Parliament on Wednesday 20 May.
Under the proposed legislation, the bill will introduce temporary easements on filing requirements and Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and new corporate restructuring tools to the insolvency regime, and temporarily suspend parts of insolvency law to support directors in financial distress.
This includes giving companies more flexibility around important filing requirements by extending deadlines for confirmation statements, accounts, registration of charges and “event-driven filings”, such as a change to your company’s directors or people with significant control (PSC) register.
However, these changes have not yet come into force, meaning business owners should continue to comply with corporate reporting rules until told otherwise. If you are struggling to pay tax or meet key accounting deadlines as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses do have the option to extend their filing deadline by up to three months.
In the meantime, a number of financial support schemes are also available, including the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), the Bounce Back Loans scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), and the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), among others.
Commenting on the proposed changes, a Companies House spokesperson said: “The Bill was introduced on Wednesday 20 May and will now make its way through Parliament. Many of the measures in the Bill will need secondary legislation before they come into force, and this will be introduced in due course.
“Nothing will change until that legislation is introduced.”
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