§ MR. S. EVANS (Glamorgan, Mid)In the absence of the hon. and learned Member for West Cavan, I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to a pamphlet by Mr. Bourchier F. Hawksley and another, on "Companies limited by guarantee without nominal capital," and showing the advantages of such companies from the point of view of the promoter, inasmuch as, according to the statement of the authors,
The shares may be issued at a discount, the promoters may themselves be Directors, and sell their property to the company without the interposition of an independent and intelligent judgment of the transaction,without fully disclosing material facts, and the promoters and Directors avoid action for misfeasance if the Bale be at an extravagant price; whether, having regard to the recent dicta of Mr. Justice Hawkins, any extension of the privileges of promoters is considered desirable by the Government; how many applications have within the past year been made to the Registrar of Companies for the registration of Trading Companies limited by guarantee without nominal capital, and what were the names of the proposed companies; what was the action of the Registrar with regard to those applications; and whether he will undertake that the Board of Trade will not allow any such company to be registered unless the Registrar should be compelled to register it by judicial decision?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. MUNDELLA,) Sheffield, BrightsideMy attention has boon called to the pamphlet mentioned by the hon. Member. Twelve applications of the nature referred to have been made to the Registrar: Five of such companies have been registered, and the other seven applications have been refused upon instructions from the Board of Trade given on the advice of counsel. Legal proceedings against the Registrar in the case of one of the companies refused are now in progress; and, pending those proceedings, I think it better to express no opinion as to the future.