The Charities Act 2006 provided for a new legal form- the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), available for charities in England and Wales. 

The CIO will provide all the benefits of incorporation (limited liability and a seperate legal identity) but will crucially only be required to report to one regulatory body (the Charity Commission), significantly reducing the bureaucracy (and cost) that charities currently have to deal with.

It has proved more complicated than first anticipated in terms of introducing the new legal form, and so it is only now coming into existence, with the first charities hopefully being able to register before the end of this year.

For more information on CIO's and the phased introduction of them, please follow the link below.