Company Email Signatures

July 30, 2009

It can be a frustrating experience trying to find more information on a business contact by sifting through their emails only to find that none of their email signatures features anything at all about their business.

At the other end of the spectrum, lawyers’ email signatures do have a tendency to drift into several paragraphs making even the tiniest of emails appear lengthy. In fairness, this is largely down to our specific regulatory requirements, of which most lawyers are acutely aware. If only all companies were so aware of their own legal obligations when sending emails.

We previously blogged here about website requirements for businesses, but company email correspondence is one area often overlooked, despite the Companies Act 2006 specifically requiring that  electronic communications, including emails include the company’s name, number, registered office and other particulars such as incorporation country and registered number.

This change in the law has been in effect for more than 2 years and yet many companies lack even the most basic information in their email signatures. We would hope that companies who are not compliant will take note and take steps to avoid the risks of falling foul of the legal requirements.