UK: the Companies (Share Capital and Acquisition by Company of its Own Shares) Regulations 2009

The Companies (Share Capital and Acquisition by Company of its Own Shares) Regulations 2009 were made on 21 July and come into force on 1 October 2009. They have been published on OPSI: see here (html) and here (pdf). An explanatory memorandum is available here. 

The Regulations amend the Companies Act (2006) in respect of its provisions concerning: rights issues; the reduction of capital; the acquisition by the company of its own shares; and treasury shares. With regard to rights issues, the Regulations amend Section 562(5) of the Companies Act (2006) to reduce from 21 days to 14 days the minimum period during which a pre-emption offer may be accepted. This reduction is being made following recommendations of the Rights Issue Review Group in a report published last year.