Questions about the UK

Anarcho · Wed 08/12/2004 14:42:39

Hi,

Since there are so many people on the board who are British, I was hoping someone could help me out. I'm doing a bit of research at work and I need to know if there is an governmental agency in England or the UK that monitors corporations and deals with trade regulations. In the US we have the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and all public companies have to file annual reports and other filings with this organization, and they in turn make most of these documents available to the public. I'm researching some corporations in the UK, and was hoping that there was an agency similar to the SEC that regulates and monitors corporations.

If anybody could help me out, I'd be eternally greatful.

-Logan

SSH · Wed 08/12/2004 15:20:54

UK Public companies (plc) have to file certain information annually at Companies House http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ where they are made public. On the other hand, I don't know how much they audit that info and police regulations other than the requirement to file the info...

There are other organisations like the Competition Comission, Takeover Panel and Office for Fair Trading that do some of the SEC's equivalent work, I believe.

EDIT:
After having a look at the SEC's website, I see that they also do some of the stuff that the UK Financial Services Authority does, too.

Anarcho · Wed 08/12/2004 15:33:15

Excellent! Thank you very much SSH.

Anarcho · Thu 09/12/2004 18:53:34

Ok folks, here are a couple more questions that I'm hoping someone can answer. This time it's about Scotland, specifically about local governments.

Do you have local tax assessors and public records departments? For example, in the US, a lot of state counties make property and tax records available online. Is there something similar in Scotland, or throughout the UK for that matter?

I've been trying to figure out how Scottish and UK government works, and I've found it somewhat baffling. I get the whole devolved government thing, and it would seem that Scotland has Councils throughout the country that are somewhat similar to our county governments, but in looking at say, the Argyll and Bute Council website, I'm not seeing useful links for public records.

I would appreciate any help you can give me,

Logan

AGA · Thu 09/12/2004 19:40:21

Er.

There are local governments, that handle minor stuff like public amenities, waste management, parks, that kind of thing. Some things, like tax is handled by one big, nationwide organisation (the Inland Revenue in the case of tax). As for public records, they're usually stored at the city/county hall, which is generally in the largest city/town in a county. You'd have to phone/visit the specific city/county hall to get that kind of info I suppose.

[everything I've said applies to Wales and England. I'm guessing it's the same in Scotland...]

Anarcho · Thu 09/12/2004 20:08:44

Really, so the Inland Revenue handles EVERYTHING related to tax? We have the IRS in the US, but local governments have tax assessors that determine how much certain properties should be taxed and other things like that. Interesting...

So I guess you're telling me that as far as you know, the only way to get public documents would be to go to the UK (nothing is online?).

That's fine by me, I just doubt my boss would go for it.

AGA · Thu 09/12/2004 21:02:24

Well you could try calling the office in question and seeing if they'd post you the relevant documents, I suppose. I don't think you'll find anything online other than forms and such. And yeah, as far as I know the Inland Revenue is the one and only tax office.

Pumaman · Fri 10/12/2004 01:09:54

Quote from: Anarcho on Thu 09/12/2004 20:08:44
Really, so the Inland Revenue handles EVERYTHING related to tax? We have the IRS in the US, but local governments have tax assessors that determine how much certain properties should be taxed and other things like that. Interesting...

The Inland Revenue handles tax for central government (income tax, VAT, etc).

Each local council collects Council Tax (property tax), and the council determines the tax amount based on the value of property.

As for public records, what sort of records are you looking for?

AGA · Fri 10/12/2004 01:38:18

Ah. I don't have to pay taxes see, because I'm a stinking, bludging student.

SSH · Fri 10/12/2004 08:25:48

The world of business taxes is different again, anyway, but still taxes are either done by the council for amenitiies or centrally by the IR. In Scotland, the Water charges are included in with the Councili tax for individuals, but for companies, it may be different. In England Water charges come as a separate bill.

If you were looking to find out info from public records, the most cost-effective mewthod might be to hire a solicitor in Scotland (or wherever) to look the things up for you. There are solicitor finders on most property websites, such as http://www.espc.co.uk

Nacho · Fri 10/12/2004 09:06:47

For further information, you can allways go to the website of the "Scottish Parliament"

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/home.htm

Wasn't this the page who was written with typos?

ggp · Fri 10/12/2004 12:05:00

No the Inland Revenue handles some types of tax, but theres also HM Customs and Excise - they're 2 different sectors.

Anarcho · Fri 10/12/2004 14:15:52

CJ,

I'm looking for documents that will help me figure out where a person lives, what kind of property he owns, where his investments are etc. In the US, it's usually possible to do this online, as most government agencies use the internet these days. For example, look at the documents available for say, Hamilton county in the US state of Ohio (you'll have to scroll down a bit):

http://www.searchsystems.net/list.php?nid=351

You can go through court filings, see if somebody is a sex offender, search property records by name, all sorts of fun stuff. You can even get a satellite photo of land parcels by address or parcel number. Not all counties in the US are this helpful (and few offer satellite photos!), but a surprising number are.

Farlander,

I have looked through the Parliament website, but I didn't find it terribly helpful. I've also looked through some Scottish Council websites, and also didn't have much luck.

Everybody else,

Thanks for the help.

Anarcho · Fri 10/12/2004 14:19:27

SSH,

I don't think I need this information badly enough to hire a solicitor. I live in the US and my office doesn't have a lot of money, so it sorta limits the options.

Nacho · Fri 10/12/2004 14:39:43

Argh... please accept my apologies, I posted that URL because SSH posted it in a special day, don't know if there were jocking or something, when it all was written with typos, and pretending to sound with scottish accent. I thougt you knew it, I should have been more specific.

Sorry to make you waste your time...

* Farlander apologizes

SSH · Fri 10/12/2004 15:07:59

Ahah, so know I know what you actually want: you may be able to find some of that out on http://www.192.com

And Farlander, there is a Scots language version of the scottish parliament website and its not a joke, or at least not to the parliament. Myself, I'd rather they spent my taxes on something else... like having bottled water to flush their toilets or something...

Anarcho · Fri 10/12/2004 15:20:23

Sorry for being so cryptic. This site looks very interesting. Thanks!

Nacho · Fri 10/12/2004 15:21:12

Oh, so, does Scottish really exists? Excuses again, I know, as catalan, how irritating can be unkowing the particularities of certain nation just because it belongs to a bigger entity...

Phew... today it's the apologies day... Ã,Â

Anarcho · Fri 10/12/2004 15:32:57

Arg, 192 is a pay site. you need credits! blarg.

Doctor Oakroot · Fri 10/12/2004 16:51:32

Quote from: Farlander on Fri 10/12/2004 15:21:12
Oh, so, does Scottish really exists?

Yes. It's a dialect of English.

Scots Gaelic also exists with speakers in both Scotland and Canada. It's not a dialect of English. But Scots Gaelic and Irish are dialects of the same language.

Questions about the UK

ggp