The Companies Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

The Companies Act - Essay Example Not only the shareholders and directors of the companies being freshly incorporated but those of the companies that are already in existence need to study the general duties of the directors in the Act. Executive Summary: The companies Act in 2006 are a pioneering law contemporary times that places great moral and social responsibility on the directors of the companies. Definitely, UK has taken the lead in calling for a more mature and responsible behavior on part of the Directors of a company. The Companies Act 2006 replaces the companies of 1985 and 1989. The Act, it is hoped, will usher in an era of the more responsible role for people in business leading to â€Å"enlightened shareholder approach†. The shareholders will hold the directors more accountable for their acts leading to the generation of awareness for the social and physical environment. The government feels that business atmosphere, society, and the environment are inextricably linked to each other and the positive or negative fallout of one affects the others. The registration of companies started in 1848. Earlier in the Companies Act of 1948 originated the â€Å"True and Fair View† (Bucheery, n.d.). This entailed upon the directors to give a true and fair view of the fiscal position of the company and the profit and loss were reflected in the annual balance sheet for the knowledge of shareholders. Later this system was incorporated in the fourth directive of Company Accounts of the European Economic Commission (Flint, 1982). Earlier the refrain in the corporate world was to maximize profits at any cost. But with the world coming together due to globalization and the experience of negative fallouts of the trade and commerce like emission of greenhouse gases, deforestation, and a yawning gap between the developing and the developed world, a need was felt for enactment of a law that required greater business transparency, a commitment to the social and physical environment and reinforcement of confidence of the people in business sys tems.

Lender recovery during recession the case of the HSBC Research Proposal

Lender recovery during recession the case of the HSBC - Research Proposal Example The sudden collapse of the Lehman Brothers also led to the situation that banks around the world had to be bailed out and the UK banks were no exception. In 2008, the British government was forced to play a major role in the British banking system to save the economy. All the banks had collected toxic debts and needed cash for survival. However, their scope and potential to raise cash grew weaker by the day just as the need for cash grew stronger (Clark, 2009). The UK economy did not grow at all in the second quarter of 2008. In a bid to partially nationalize the banks, the UK government had to use up  £500bn of tax payers’ money (Guardian, 2008). This became necessary to restore confidence in the sector and to provide the needed fresh capital. The government wanted to reassure the market that banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland would survive the ongoing financial crisis. Funds were made available through the Special Liquidity Scheme announced by the government as banks were not keen to lend to each other. The government had also to underwrite lending between banks. Under the grim circumstances, while RBS had to take the government support and issue Preference Shares to the government, HSBC could keep itself from taking funds from the government. While both the banks faced heavy debts, HSBC could survive the financial crisis without financial funding support from the UK government. HSBC had some inner strength that could help it sustain itself. To understand the core strategy and the inner strengths of HSBC, the objective of the study is: Consumers globally, and especially in the developed nations had started living beyond their means (Karsbol, 2007). Savings has dwindled and the central banks were unable to control inflation. The interest rates had been kept artificially low for too long. It was predicted by economists in 2007 that US would be the first country to suffer with the GDP growth turning negative. The