Companies House – MMO Fallout

Good news, Jagex fans. While we don’t know for sure if Jagex has actually filed its annual reports, it appears the company has at least responded to Companies House. Last week, I posted that Jagex’s status was changed to “Active – Proposal to strike off.” If a company is more than 90 days late on filing its proper documents (in this case annual income), Companies House is required to propose striking them off unless the company either submits a response or files the actual documents. Failure to do either would result in fines and, eventually, the company being dissolved and liquidated by the UK government. As I said last time, the odds of Companies House shutting down Jagex were just about nil.

It is rather likely that Jagex has indeed filed their income statements. Companies House updated Jagex’s status to simply “Active,” and the due date for their next annual income has been changed to September 2013. The income statement will not be available for public viewing until a later date.

(Source: Companies House)

Update: I made a mistake in calling the fines “heavy.” The fine is actually about 750 pounds, which a company with Jagex’s income wouldn’t even notice.

The drama continues. Last week we talked about how Jagex is currently three months late on filing its annual financial statements. According to Companies House, Jagex was supposed to file its returns by September 30th, something which the UK developer has still yet to do going into the new year. I noted that while Companies House handles late filings on a case by case basis, and that companies like Jagex generally file late due to issues with third party accounting firms, that there are some potentially heavy consequences if the statements are not filed soon, including fines and charges against the executives and, in more serious situations, complete liquidation of the company. We can speculate all we like, however, but only one thing is clear: with the reason behind the delay shrouded in secrecy, all we know is that Jagex has still yet to file its reports.

Companies House has updated Jagex’s company status to “Active – Proposal to strike off.” What this means is that the registrar no longer views Jagex as actively doing business, given that the company is more than three months behind on sending in proper papers. The Companies House website notes that the proper procedure in dealing with an involuntary strike off is as follows:

Before striking a company off the register, the registrar is required to write two formal letters and send notice to the company’s registered office to inquire whether it is still carrying on business or in operation. If he is satisfied that it is not, he will publish a notice in the relevant Gazette stating his intention to strike the company off the register unless he is shown reason not to do so.

So is Jagex going to be shut down? All public signs point to no chance that Companies House would view one of the largest UK developers as no longer in operation, and that no one at Jagex is insane enough to ignore two letters from Companies House. What is more likely is that, should they still fail to turn in the proper documents, Jagex will likely be on the receiving end of some light fines. That is, before the wrath of very angry investors falls down upon their shoulders.

Thank you to the folks at Stellar Dawn Central for keeping a watch on the situation.

(Source: Companies House)