WHAT’S HAPPENING
Due to recent amendments to the UK Companies Act of 1985 and the Northern Ireland Companies Order provisions of 1986 within the UK Companies Act, it is now required that all emails sent by a company incorporated or doing business in Great Britain include specific references to that company’s name, place of registration, registration number and address of its registered office.

HOW THIS MAY IMPACT YOU
The amended Companies Act extends the disclosure requirements already existing for paper business letters and order forms to their electronic or email counterparts. This means that as of January 1, 2007, companies incorporated in Great Britain, and overseas companies that operate in Great Britain, must include the following items in all print or electronic business letters and order forms:

– Company name
– Company place of registration
– Company registration number (if one exists)
– Address of the company’s registered office

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
Per the existing act, “business letters” are limited to transactional-type messages; email marketing messages and newsletters are not considered business letters. However, “publications” and “notices” (which may include email marketing and newsletters) must contain the company’s name.
Based on these findings you will want to adhere to the following advice:

1. For transactional messages, include all of the required disclosures for business letters described above.
2. For all other commercial messages, (including marketing and newsletters), include regular CAN SPAM-type disclosures (name of sender, valid physical postal address).

mobileStorm is providing this advisory as part of its ongoing efforts to keep you informed on issues that may affect your use of the email channel. We do not represent this advice as complete legal guidance or a substitute for it. We recommend that you seek appropriate legal guidance on the applicability of these laws to your email communications and on whether and how you should comply.

The entire text of the UK “Companies Act 2006” can be found at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060046_en.pdf
“Explanatory Notes” on the Companies Act 2006 can be found at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/en2006/ukpgaen_20060046_en.pdf

Please contact your mobileStorm Account Manager or Support with questions or for further assistance.