The Office for Fair Trading (OFT) has produced guidance specifically aimed at directors, reveals company secretarial services provider London Registrars (https://www.london-registrars.co.uk/). The guidance helps directors understand their responsibilities when it comes to competition law.

When the OFT made its last round of consultation on director responsibility under existing competition law, many directors stated that they were unclear about exactly what was required of them. This confusion has led to the OFT producing clear guidelines as to what is expected of UK company directors in relation to competition law. This guidance will make it easier for company compliance from directors in this regard.

In addition to director-specific guidance on competition law, the OFT has set out the various requirements for executive and non-executive directors, Competition Disqualification Orders (CDO), as well as advice on early detection and prevention of infringements. To assist directors with corporate governance in this arena, there are practical examples which further clarify responsibilities. The OFT report goes on to discuss how the OFT will analyse an individual director’s responsibility in the case of an infringement of competition law before deciding whether to pursue a Competition Disqualification Order against the director. This will be particularly important in cases where a director had suspected an infringement but did nothing to prevent it and where a director did not know of any infringement but should have done so.

To ensure your company directors are kept abreast of important new compliance guidelines such as these, trust the corporate and legal support firm London Registrars. The company can assist with all legal and compliance matters, from company secretarial services to process agency services. For further information on the full range of services, please visit https://www.london-registrars.co.uk/.