United Kingdom company law regulates
corporations formed under the
Companies Act 2006. Also governed by the
Insolvency Act 1986, the
UK Corporate Governance Code,
European Union Directives and court cases, the company is the primary
legal vehicle to organise and run business. Tracing their modern history to the late
Industrial Revolution, public companies now employ more people and generate more of wealth in the
United Kingdom economy than any other form of organisation. The United Kingdom was the first country to draft modern corporation statutes, where through a simple registration procedure any investors could incorporate, limit liability to their commercial creditors in the event of business
insolvency, and where management was delegated to a centralised
board of directors. An influential model within
Europe, the
Commonwealth and as an international standard setter, UK law has always given people broad freedom to design the internal company rules, so long as the mandatory minimum rights of investors under its legislation are complied with.