covers issues which relate to the creation of a company, its governance and administration, its relationship with important societal groups, such as employees, creditors, the environment or the local community where a company effectively operates, and issues such as the dissolution of the company after a potential insolvency and takeovers. Therefore, it is an area of law which regulates significant aspects of economic and societal activities. In this sense an understanding of company law is indeed necessary for an understanding of the society within which it operates, as will be demonstrated within the framework of Chapter 2 where the topic of ‘Corporate Governance’ is analysed in depth. This book presents the main debates that take place within the context of company law and highlights the provisions that affect how an English company functions. It explains not only the operation of the Companies Act 2006, which is currently the principal legislative tool within the field of English company law, but also the rationale behind the shaping of such a legislative framework within which English companies – private or public – operate. After a general introduction to the structure and aims of company law, and discussion of the main types of companies in the UK in Chapter 1, the book moves on to an analysis of corporate governance in Chapter 2. As will be explained in Chapter 2, the analysis of this topic is necessary for an understanding not only of the wider context within which corporate activities in the UK take place, but also of the roots of company law in this country.