The Seven General Duties of Directors as set out in Part 10 Chapter 2 Essay

The Seven General Duties of Directors as set out in Part 10 Chapter 2 of the Companies Act 2006 - Essay Example A director or any equivalent title is responsible for overseeing company’s affairs management. The statute does not have any comprehensive definition of a director except that the term ‘director’ entails any person in the position of the director (IAS Regulation 2006). This paper seeks to critically examine the seven General Duties of Directors as set out in Part 10 Chapter 2 of the Companies Act 2006. To begin with, the elements of company governance are discussed in the following paragraph to help us understand the scope of directorship in the companies after which the general duties of the directors will follow. Some companies also have the position of non executive director. These are directors who are not concerned with the day to day management of company operation and is expected to give own independent view and opinion on the issues of the board. Companies are controlled and directed by a corporate governance system. It is the role of the board of directors to oversee the governance of the company. It is the board that sets the strategies and aims of the company as well as grants the leadership to get them to operation and action . The board of directors supervises the mechanisms of company management and gives a report to the shareholders. Generally, the action of the board of directors is subjected to regulations, law and shareholders in the general meetings. The ideal qualities that the directors are required to possess include; determination, integrity, originality, creativity, commitment, balance, ethical and strategic awareness, independence, responsibility and accountability. In some particular companies, team spirit and loyalty are highly valued than creativity and originality. An effective performance of the board varies with the difference in personalities and how people interact and not the case of having in the company outstanding individuals. That is the reason why new board members are usually selected to complement the qualities of the already existing members of the board. The most preferred candidate may even be that particular person who balances the team in the best way, and not the one who is technically able than the rest of the candidates. It is not obvious or a must that the director be good at everything, but he or she do not have to command respect from the rest of the board members. The directors should be team players and have the ability to demonstrate communication, decision making, strategic awareness and interpersonal skills. The development of regulation and law that relates to the directors of the company in the United Kingdom is b ased on the combination of a series of voluntary codes and laws of the company. These laws define the roles and responsibilities of the companies, company secretaries and directors of the companies. The Company Act 2006 was actually a consolidation of different pieces of other legislation of the company, which in that particular applied to the companies that were incorporated under that Act. It is vial to note that partnerships, sole traders and limited partnerships were not initially covered in the Companies Act 2005. The Companies Act 2006 however revised this and replaced the company legislations that were existing and the exceptions of the provisions that were related to the interest of communities over companies and the company