Joining up the pieces

HM Treasury has published a consultation which outlines proposed changes to UK partnership legislation, with a view to modernising limited partnerships for private equity fund structures (see Proposal on using Legislative Reform Order to change partnership legislation for private equity investments). The changes are intended to remove a number of uncertainties and inconveniences in existing UK limited partnership law in order to ensure that the UK limited partnership remains the preferred structure for European private equity and venture capital funds. The changes will be made by a Legislative Reform Order.

The proposed changes would only apply to qualifying, “private fund limited partnerships” and include:

• an ability for Companies House to remove inactive private fund limited partnerships from the register;
• a “white list” of permitted activities for limited partners in private fund limited partnerships which will not amount to taking part in the management of the limited partnership business;
• the removal of:
• the requirement for limited partners in private funds