Director Management and Director Duties - Essay Example

The Act also ensures that all the directors are well equipped with the accurate information about all the decisions made and are aware of every step that they decide to take up. Also, the act helps in protecting the directors from the pressures of the shareholders and helps the directors concentrate on the long-term goals. A detailed explanation of the various duties has been included and further research recommendations have been suggested as well. The Companies Act has been in use for over a hundred and fifty years.

This has been designed to provide companies with a framework within which companies with limited liability are required to work within. The Companies Act was replaced on 8th November 2006, which was updated, modernized and rewritten version of the company law. The changes in the act, however, are to be implemented in the number of different phases and this would end by October 2009. However, before moving onto the duties of directors of listed companies, it is essential to understand what listed companies are.

Listed companies are companies whose shares are quoted on the stock exchange for public trading. Thus duties of directors in these companies are very important and it is essential that these are well understood and followed as well. A number of concerns have been raised in the past concerning the director’s and their duties (Financial reporting council, 2009). It is important to note here that there were a number of concerns about the directors having to face increased administrative work due to changes in the law, however the Ministerial Statements have clearly explained this as, “The words ‘have regard to’ mean ‘think about’; they are absolutely not about just ticking boxes.

If thinking about’ leads to the conclusion, as we believe it will in many cases, that the proper course is to act positively to achieve the objectives in the clause, that will be what the director’s duty is. In other words ‘have regard to’ means ‘give proper consideration to’” (Chivers, 2007).