Other Compliance - Document Management Legal Admissibility
There are many general and industry specific information management compliance requirements. The following is a selection, and not an exhaustive list:
Companies Act 1985 (requirement to keep company records)
VAT Act 1994 (requirement to keep VAT records)
Limitations Act 1980 (limits how long legal action can be taken)
Sarbanes-Oxley (USA, relates to financial organisations)
Basel II (EU, framework for international financial regulation)
MiFID (EU (to be published) Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
This Act requires that a company keeps (and makes available on request) certain information about themselves. This includes, for example:
There are also a number of statutory returns that companies must make to Companies House, including the Annual Accounts and any details of changes to Directors.
Applicable to organisations that are registered for VAT purposes, the VAT Act requires that certain financial records are kept, and retained for a certain period of time (typically 6 years). The Act includes a long list of information that needs to be retained. What is not stated is how the information should be retained, and in what form. Thus, organisations can choose to keep their records in paper and/or electronic form. Having said that, it is a good idea to consult with your local VAT office if you are considering changing the way you store your VAT records.
This Act limits the time after which certain legal action can no longer be taken. So, for example, claims for a breach of contact must be made within 6 years of the breach (or 12 years if the contract made by deed). Thus, you need to keep records of your contracts and how they were managed for the relevant period of time.
This is a piece of US legislation which is intended to improve the transparency with which companies in the US conduct their business. Its objective is to prevent the re-occurrence of financial malpractices that (for example) resulted in the Enron debacle. This is achieved by the requirement on US companies to keep appropriate records, and make them publicly available as necessary. Where this legislation affects UK companies is where they are owned by a US parent, or they conduct business with a US company. Under these circumstances, contracts and other agreements may include the need to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley principles.
This is an EU framework for international financial regulation. It seeks to set out a global standard for how banks and certain other financial institutions measure risk and allocate capital. There is a requirement to capture data, such that the operational risk factors can be identified and analysed. Such data will need to be stored, so that the management of the Basel II requirements can be demonstrated.
Being developed within the EU, and supported by the Financial Services Authority, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is designed to create a single EU market in the financial sector. The implementation rules require that some basic high-level provisions governing the organisational and conduct of business requirements that will apply to all financial organisations.
Implementation is progressing during 2006.
