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Some changes have been made to existing UK legislation about the information that MUST be disclosed in commercial or transactional email sent by companies incorporated in Great Britain and companies incorporated elsewhere that operate in Great Britain.
Q: What information MUST be disclosed in commercial or transactional email sent by a UK company?
A: The UK Companies Act of 1985 was recently amended to extend the disclosure requirements already existing for paper business letters and order forms to email versions of business letters and order forms.
Effective January 1, 2007, companies incorporated in Great Britain and those overseas companies that operate in Great Britain must include the following in business letters and order forms:
- The company's name
- The company's place of registration
- The company's registration number (if one exists)
- The address of the company's registered office
Business letters are limited to transactional-type messages. Materials associated with the regulation indicate that email marketing messages and newsletters may not be considered business letters.
Included in the Companies Act, email "publications" and "notices" (which may include email marketing messages and newsletters) must contain the company's name.
Q: We are a US company that sends emails to UK recipients. Are we affected by the UK Companies Act?
A: We cannot offer legal interpretations of this European legislation. However, we think the Companies Act does not affect US businesses unless they have a physical operation in Great Britain.
Q: What does BlueHornet recommend?
A: BlueHornet does not provide legal advice, and we recommend you seek independent legal counsel for specific interpretations of the Companies Act and how it may affect your email marketing programs. However, we can make the following recommendations based on our understanding of the new requirements:
- For transactional messages: Include all of the required disclosures for business letters described above.
For all other commercial messages (including marketing and newsletters) include regular CAN SPAM-type disclosures: Your company name, a valid physical postal address, and a clear link to unsubscribe.
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