Legal compliance management - House of Fraser

Dates: 1849-
Description: Legal compliance management is the activity of complying with relevant legislation and regulations.

Biographical history
Before 1909, responsibility for ensuring that the business complied with all relevant legislation and regulations fell to the partners. After 1909, when the business was registered as a private limited company, Fraser Sons & Co Ltd, the responsibility fell to the company secretary. It was his job to keep the board of directors informed of its legal responsibilities, to maintain at the company's registered office all the necessary company records, such as minutes of board and general meetings, registers of directors and shareholders and the statutory accounts and to complete annual returns for the Registrar of Companies. In 1941, Fraser Sons & Co Ltd formed a new company, House of Fraser Ltd, to act as a vehicle for future acquisitions. Although House of Fraser Ltd was an independent company with its own board of directors and secretary, the secretary was Robert Keenan, who was also secretary of Fraser Sons & Co Ltd. It was Keenan's responsibility, therefore, for ensuring that the directors of both companies complied with relevant legislation. In 1947, Fraser Sons & Co Ltd was liquidated and its assets transferred to House of Fraser Ltd. There was henceforth a single company and a single post of secretary.

Act for the Registration, Incorporation and Regulation of Joint Stock Companies 1844; Act to Amend an Act for the Registration, Incorporation and Regulation of Joint Stock Companies 1847; Act for Limiting the Liability of Members of Certain Joint Stock Companies 1855; Joint Stock Companies Act 1856; Joint Stock Companies (Consolidation) Act 1862; Companies Act 1867; Limited Partnership Act 1869; Companies (Winding Up) Act 1890; Partnership Act 1890; Companies Amendment Act 1900; Companies Act 1907; Limited Partnership Act 1907; Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908; Companies (Particulars as to Directors) Act 1917; Companies Act 1928; 1929 Act to Consolidate the Companies Acts 1908 to 1928; Companies Act 1947; Companies Act 1948; Companies Act 1967; Companies Act 1976; Companies Act 1980; Companies Act 1981; Companies Act 1985; Companies Act 2006.