Clause 65.—(POWER OF BOARD OF TRADE TO IMPOSE REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO INITIAL CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.) (Hansard, 19 July 1967)

§ Mr. Darling
I beg to move, Amendment No. 234, in page 61, line 21, to leave out 'of Trade'.
I sincerely hope that the hon. Gentleman is going to accept this one, because it is only a drafting Amendment.

§ Mr. Jay
I beg to move, Amendment No. 235, in page 61, line 25, at the end to insert: (5A) When the Board impose under subsection (1)(c) of this section a requirement on a company, society or body, or rescind or vary a requirement so imposed, they shall forthwith serve—

(a) except where the requirement is one imposed on a registered society (other than one registered in Northern Ireland), on the registrar of companies;

(b) in the said excepted case, on the appropriate registrar as defined by section 73(1) of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965;
written notice stating that fact, and, in the case of a notice of the imposition of a requirement, setting out the terms of the requirement. 2397 in the case of a notice of the rescission of a requirement, identifying the requirement, and in the case of a notice of a variation of a requirement, identifying the requirement and setting out the terms of the variation. (5B) A notice served in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection on the registrar of companies shall be open to inspection, and a copy thereof may be procured by any person on payment of such fee as the Board may direct; and every document purporting to be certified by the registrar of companies, or by a person appointed in that behalf by the President of the Board of Trade, to be a copy of such a notice shall be deemed to be a copy of that notice and shall be received in evidence as if it were the original notice, unless some variation between it and the original be proved. (5C) Section 71 (1) of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 (which empowers the Treasury to make regulations respecting, inter alia, the inspection of documents kept by the appropriate registrar under that Act) shall have effect as if the reference to documents so kept included a reference to notices served in pursuance of subsection (5A) above on the appropriate registrar. This Amendment, with Amendment 252, which, I hope, we can discuss with it, is to meet a point raised by the hon. Member for Crosby (Mr. Graham Page) in Committee. The effect of the Amendments is that arrangements should be made to warn prospective mortgagees that certain assets of an insurance company are subject to requirements under Clauses 65 and 79 to the effect that the creation of a mortgage on those assets would be invalid. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree that this Amendment meets his suggestion, by making it an obligation on the Board of Trade to serve notice on the appropriate registrar giving details of the imposition, rescission—if that is the right word—or variation of any such requirement, and in addition to that, by ensuring, first, that any such notice is placed on the public file of the insurance company and is open to inspection by the public and, secondly, that copies of such notice may be purchased by the public. I think that that should give due warning in these cases, and that, accordingly, it meets the proposal made by the hon. Gentleman.

§ Mr. Graham Page
I rise only to thank the right hon. Gentleman very much. This covers exactly the point which I raised in Committee, and we are very grateful for the Amendment.