§ MR. HIGHAM (Yorkshire, W.R., Sowerby)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if the requirements of The Companies Acts, 1900, especially of Section 12, have been complied with by the following limited liability companies: Rhodesia, Limited (New Company), Gwanda Consolidated Development, Austro-Rhodesia Development, South Africa Gold Dredging, Town Properties Bulawayo, Criterion Development Company, Empress Mines, and Eastern Queen's; if any of these companies are registered in Rhodesia and not in the United Kingdom; and, if so, whether they are exempt from the responsibilities of the Companies' Acts.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OR TRADE (Mr. LLOYD-GEORGE,) Carnarvon BoroughsOf the companies named in the question Rhodesia, Limited (New 279 Company), Criterion Development Company, and Eastern Queen's are not registered in the United Kingdom. I am unable to say whether they are registered in Rhodesia. Speaking generally, companies registered outside the United Kingdom are not subject to the Companies Acts; but any company, wherever registered, is liable to be ordered by the Court to be wound up, if it possessess assets within the Court's jurisdiction. The remaining companies mentioned in the Question are registered in the United Kingdom, but of them the South African Gold Dredging Company, Limited, alone was registered after January 1st, 1901, and consequently would be the only one to which Section 12 of the Companies Act, 1900, applied. It did make a return under that section, but is now winding up.