Portal to Legal Sites and Resources in the UK, A to B
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• Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. Sometimes known as the 'Old Lady' of Threadneedle Street, the Bank was founded in 1694, nationalised on 1 March 1946, and gained independence in 1997. Standing at the centre of the UK's financial system, the Bank is committed to promoting and maintaining monetary and financial stability as its contribution to a healthy economy.
• Business Link is a free business advice and support service, available online and through local advisers. It is developed in partnership with subject experts within government and relevant business-support organisations to help businesses comply with regulations and improve performance. It provides information on finance, grants, employment and health and safety and other business topics.
• Companies House has main functions:
  • to incorporate and dissolve limited companies;
  • to examine and store company information delivered under the Companies Act and related legislation; and
  • to make this information available to the public.
  All limited companies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are registered at Companies House, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). There are more than 2 million limited companies registered in Great Britain, and more than 300,000 new companies are incorporated each year. There is full information on the Companies Act 2006, implemented in October 2009.
• Competition Commission (CC) is one of the independent public bodies which help ensure healthy competition between companies in the UK for the benefit of companies, customers and the economy. They investigate and address issues of concern in three areas:
  • In mergers - when larger companies will gain more than 25% market share and where a merger appears likely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition in one or more markets in the UK.
  • In markets - when it appears that competition may be being prevented, distorted or restricted in a particular market.
  • In regulated sectors where aspects of the regulatory system may not be operating effectively or to address certain categories of dispute between regulators and regulated companies.
  
• Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) is a specialist judicial body with cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business and accountancy whose function is to hear and decide cases involving competition or economic regulatory issues.
• Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. They are a company limited by guarantee and financed by the financial services industry. The Treasury appoints the FSA Board, which currently consists of a Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, two Managing Directors, and ten non-executive directors (including a lead non-executive member, the Deputy Chairman). This Board sets our overall policy, but day-to-day decisions and management of the staff are the responsibility of the Executive.
• Financial Times - a vast amount of information including company briefings and up to date share prices and currency prices.
• London Stock Exchange is at the heart of the global financial market and is home to some of the largest, most successful and dynamic companies in the world. In October 2007 the Exchange merged with Borsa Italiana, creating Europe's leading diversified exchange business, London Stock Exchange Group.
• NASDAQ, in New York, provides news, analysis and prices and portfolio tracking.
• Ofcom is the communications regulator and regulates TV and radio, fixed line telecoms and mobiles, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Ofcom's remit is to make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive. Ofcom operates under the Communications Act 2003. The Act says that Ofcom’s general duties should be to further the interests of citizens and of consumers. Ofcom inherited the duties of the five previous regulators the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission, Oftel, the Radio Authority and the Radiocommunications Agency.
• Panel on Takeovers and Mergers is an independent body, established in 1968, whose main functions are to issue and administer the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the “Code”) and to supervise and regulate takeovers and other matters to which the Code applies. Its central objective is to ensure fair treatment for all shareholders in takeover bids. The Panel has been designated as the supervisory authority to carry out certain regulatory functions in relation to takeovers under the EC Directive on Takeover Bids (2004/25/EC) (the “Directive”). Its statutory functions are set out in and under Chapter 1 of Part 28 of the Companies Act 2006.

Commercial organisations involved with finance, commerce and compliance

• Adlex Solicitors advise businesses on every aspect of trading online, website law and internet law. The firm was founded in 2001 by internet and domain name lawyer Adam Taylor, former partner and head of E-Commerce and Technology Group at City of London solicitor firm Withers. He is a Nominet and WIPO domain dispute panelist. The site includes information on:
  * the regulations which apply to business trading on the internet
  * the UK and EU data protection laws and regulations which apply to online privacy and the collection and use of personal data via websites
  * Internet terms and conditions and web contracts
  * White label contracts and co-branding contract issues
  * web design - legal, contract and hosting issues
  * domain name disputes.
• Black Knight Associates are specialist forensic loan audit and disbursement funding providers. and they provide an online service for investigating loan and mortgage irregularities. There is a free calculator (called Pinky Pig) which calculates how much a loan or mortgage will actually cost based on loan amount, APR, number of payments per year and payment period.
• Compliance Exchange is a set of resources for compliance officers and other professionals engaged in managing or regulating investment business, maintained by Jonathan Halsey.
• Complinet supplies information and software solutions to the international financial services industry. They specialise in compliance, regulation and human resources. There are a number of subscription services available including daily news, a Rulebooks and Regulatory Update Service and a Know Your Client Database.
• Company Law Forum is a new site from LexisNexis intended to provide a Web 2.0 environment for the legal and business community to share thoughts, useful links, and have discussions on company law related issues. The content of the site is free to access although you have to register for it. As it says on the site "The new website offers users the opportunity to discuss and debate current issues such as the implications of sections covering proxies for FTSE100 companies and the problems of the 48-hour deadline for appointment. Other topics include the delay of the final raft of commencements until 2009, the impact of potential derivative actions on D&O insurance and how the changes to directors’ duties interact with the duties on insolvency through a Web 2.0 interface." There are several substantive articles on these topics already. There is a directory of registered users which allows users to contact each other privately, news items and current awareness.
• Company Law Club offers a number of services for members (it is free but you have to register) including access to a database of company law (similar to a basic company law textbook online) and access to forms from Companies House. The site is supported by company registration agents Incorporation Services Ltd.
• Corporate Law and Governance is a blog from Robert Goddard of Aston Business School Birmingham. It provides news from the UK and beyond concerning corporate law and governance. These areas are broadly defined to include capital market regulation, financial reporting and the legal environment in which companies (of all sizes) operate.
• ebizlaw is a specialised site from Fox Williams LLP. Described as "Legal advice from ebusiness and online community specialists Fox Williams" the site offers current news in these topics and basic briefing documents. You can also sign up for a regular (free) email update along the same lines.
• FIND (Financial Information Net Directory) is a commercial organisation with a large database of links to financial institutions of all types.
• Global Forum for Competition and Trade Policy, founded in 1991, consists of a group of experts representing the key interests of economists, lawyers, academics, practitioners and national and international policy-makers who are committed to expanding the global discussion of the ramifications of competition policy for global trade and investment. The site is sponsored by the International Bar Association. You can click on a region in the world map and be linked directly to the most current versions of the world's competition laws, national competition authorities and international organisations. There are also articles, speeches, and commentary. This site facilitates the IBA's work with the International Competition Network (ICN). The site provides coverage of the competition laws and practice of 126 countries: 24 African jurisdictions, 29 Mid-East and Eastern regimes, 43 European systems, 14 in North and Central America, 12 in Southern America and 4 in Oceana. In each case, the most up-to-date text of the country's governing legislation is displayed, together with all relevant forms, regulations, interpretative guidelines, annual reports, co-operation agreements and press releases. There are over 600 links to all of the world's known competition agency sites, as well as to those maintained by international organisations such as the World Bank, World Trade Organisation (WTO), OECD and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as well as multiple academic institutions.
• International Law Office, launched in February 1998, delivers global analysis to lawyers worldwide via email on a free subscription basis. It provides legal developments from around the world, a comprehensive directory of firms and partners, a database of the world's major deals and the legal advisers involved, and a global news round-up.
• Jordans offer a number of services in this general area including company formations, company compliance services & software, company information and other related services.
• Lawdit, Solicitors, of Southampton, provide a very useful online newsletter on IP, trade marks and e-commerce topics, at Lawditnews. Each month, there is a detailed and comprehensive round up of news items on these topics, complete with links to further information as appropriate. You can also register for automatic notification when the new newsletter is ready.
• Legal 500 Series, published by Legalease for over twenty years, provides the most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers, in over 100 countries. Used by commercial and private clients, corporate counsel, CEOs, FDs and professional advisers - as well as by other referrers of work both nationally and internationally - the series is widely regarded as offering the definitive judgement of law firm capabilities.
• Mondaq launched in August 1994, is one of the most comprehensive electronic resources of professionals' knowledge and expertise. They provide legal, regulatory and financial commentary and information supplied directly by hundreds of the world's leading professional advisors, covering over 70 countries.
• NERA Economic Consulting is an international firm of economists with more than 40 years of practical experience creating strategies, studies, reports, expert testimony and policy recommendations in topics relating to industrial and financial economics. The global team of 500 professionals operates in 18 offices across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. They provide The Global Antitrust Weekly, a free weekly news bulletin which summarises news from the press relating to current cases in antitrust and competition policy from around the world.
• PLC Competition is a service for competition law specialists and other commercial lawyers who use competition law in their practices. The aim of the service is to keep its users up-to-date with developments in key areas of competition law and to provide them with practical support. Subscribers receive practical updates explaining the implications of new developments as they occur. The service also provides access to a maintained know-how bank comprising practice notes, precedents and forms. The updates are integrated with the know-how bank and useful external resources. There is a free trial available of the service. You can sign up on the site.
• PLC Corporate is a service for corporate and commercial lawyers. The aim of the service is to keep its users up-to-date with developments in key areas and to provide them with practical support in the form of continuously maintained standard documents, drafting notes and practice notes. The service also comprises the entire archive of PLC Magazine. There is a free trial available of the service. You can sign up on the site.
• Reckon LLP is a London-based consultancy firm specialising in regulation and competition economics. The site provides extensive information and comment which would be of interest to UK and EC competition law specialists.
• Richards Gray provides a wide and comprehensive range of property & corporate information services encompassing, amongst many others, Personal Local Authority, Environmental, Mining, Water, NLIS and Company Searches.
• UKcorporator is an expert system for generating limited company formation documents online which can be used either by the person wanting to set up a limited company, or by a solicitor acting on his/her behalf. The system operates on a question and answer basis to obtain the information needed for the forms, providing full explanatory notes at each stage so that the user is in effect "coached" in the process of preparing the documents, and taking account of the relevant Companies Act provisions. There is also a considerable amount of free information available on the site relating to the incorporation process for people to use whether or not they are using the system on a paid basis. At the end of the generation process, the user can decide whether he or she wishes to go ahead with the formation and pay as little as GBP19.95 (after taking into account a substantial refund if the user elects to open an HSBC bank account) required for the finished documents and delivering them automatically. All content has been written by the directors of the company who are also solicitors. The system was based on an Australian system Incorporator.com.au.

Comments or queries? delia@venables.co.uk