The provisions in s. 301-361 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) set out the requirements pertaining to meetings and resolutions, including annual general meetings (AGMs), which companies must hold them and notification procedures.
Unlike private companies, all public companies (whether traded or not) are required to hold an AGM ( CA 2006, s. 336 ). This must be held within six months beginning with the day following its accounting reference date. Thus, a public company with a year-end of 31 December needs to hold its AGM on or before the following 30 June, with many public companies opting to hold their AGM in April or May.
A private company which is a traded company must hold an AGM within nine months beginning with the day following its accounting reference date. A ‘traded company’ is defined in CA 2006, s. 360C as a company any shares of which carry rights to vote at general meetings, and are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market or an EU regulated market by or with the consent of the company.
It is a finable offence for a public company or traded company to fail to comply with the requirement to hold an AGM.
The notice of an AGM (21 days per CA 2006, s. 307 ) must state that the meeting is the AGM. Shorter notice may be agreed, but only by all the members entitled to attend and vote, and not if the company is a traded company.
Further guidance and tools relating to AGMs are provided within Navigate Corporate Law , including an example notice of an AGM of a public or private limited company. Guidance is also available on general meetings that are not AGMs, and all relevant CA 2006 provisions can be found in Companies Legislation.
Answer provided by Nadia Mayer LLB (Hons)
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