Corporate law update: 24 - 30 January 2026

This week:

Items of interest

• AFME updates selling restrictions wording. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published revised wording for the selling restrictions most commonly put in place on equity transactions. The new wording reflects the commencement of the UK’s new regime for public offers of securities and admissions to trading on 19 January 2026.
  
  Read AFME’s updated selling restrictions wording (opens PDF)

• Changes to company accounts requirements delayed. Companies House has confirmed (in an update to its guidance on filing company accounts) that changes to company accounts made by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) will not come into effect in April 2027, as originally scheduled. The changes include requiring companies to file their accounts using commercial software, and the removal of certain filing relaxations for small companies and micro-entities.
  
  You can read more on the ECCTA in our recent article The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).
  
  Access Companies House’s guidance on filing company accounts

• Option to keep central register at Companies House abolished. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/57) have been made. The Regulations abolish the option for companies to keep certain company registers (including their register of members) centrally at Companies House. Very few companies took advantage of this option, so the impact will be minimal.
  
  Access the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/57)