Many companies in the UK are not currently aware of a new law that came into effect on the 1st January 2007, courtesy of the European E-Commerce Regulations 2002 and the The Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006.
In a nutshell, companies now have to display their company information in detail on their website and in the footers of their emails or risk a fine.
Who does the law apply to?
Every commercial company in the UK.
What information does my company have to display on its website?
a) The Full company name
b) The Geographic address (registered office rather than a PO Box.)
c) The company’s registration number the place of registration should be stated (This usually takes the form of “Example Company Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 0101010″)
d) If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
e) The business VAT number (if applicable)
f) Any tax and delivery costs must be stated for any prices shown.
What information does my company have to display in its email footers?
a) The company registration number
b) The place of registration (e.g.England & Wales)
c) The registered office address
This information has been required for business letters for a number of years, and an amendment to the Companies Act 1985 has expressly added this duty to email communication also. Of course, not all of the emails your company sends will be of a business nature but it is good practice to automatically include this information on all correspondence.
Does my company really need to add a confidentiality/disclaimer as well as all
the above?
It is still uncertain as to how legally binding any confidentiality notice or disclaimer will be, as this has not yet been tested in law. Confidentiality clauses may serve as an aid in court if a company ever wished to show that a party was unjust in revealing the contents of an email to a third party and might therefore be useful to include. General guidance on disclaimers however suggests that they are unlikely to be effective and should be used with caution. Added to this, any email asking, for example, the recipient not to rely on the contents of this email is not likely to inspire confidence in the recipient.
What a company wishes to disclaim will depend on the nature of its business and it is advisable to seek legal advice for a disclaimer applicable to you.
