HL Deb 27 March 1980 vol 407 cc1015-7

180 Clause 41, page 50, leave out lines 19 to 23 and insert—

(7B) An investment company may not make a distribution by virtue of subsection (1) above unless its shares are listed on a recognised stock exchange and, during the period beginning with the first day of the accounting reference period immediately preceding the accounting reference period in which the proposed distribution is to be made or, where the distribution is proposed to be made during the company's first accounting reference period, the first day of that period and ending with the date of the distribution (whether or not any part of those periods falls before the appointed day), is has not—

  1. (a) distributed any of its capital profits; or
  2. (b) applied any unrealised profits or any capital profits (realised or unrealised) in paying up debentures or any amounts unpaid on any of its issued shares.

(7C) An investment company may not make a distribution by virtue of subsection (1) above unless the company gave the requisite notice—

  1. (a) before the beginning of the period referred to in subsection (7B) above; or
  2. (b) where that period began before the appointed day, as soon as may be reasonably practicable after the appointed day; or
  3. (c) where the company was incorporated on or after the appointed day, as soon as may be reasonably practicable after the date of its incorporation.

(7D) A notice by a company to the registrar under subsection (7) above may be revoked at any time by the company on giving notice in the prescribed form to the registrar that it no longer wishes to be an investment company within the meaning of this section, and, on giving such notice, the company shall cease to be such an investment company.

(7E) Section 359(2) and (3) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 and section 93(6)(6) of the Finance Act 1972 shall have effect for the purposes of subsection (7A)(b) above as those provisions have effect for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of the said section 359.

(7F) The Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument extend the provisions of this section, with or without modifications, to companies whose principal business consists of investing their funds in securities, land or other assets with the aim of spreading investment risk and giving their members the benefit of the results of the management of the assets.

(7G) Regulations made under subsection (7F) above—

  1. (a) may make different provision for different classes of companies and may contain such transitional and supplemental provisions as the Secretary of State considers necessary; and
  2. (b) shall not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament."

181 Clause 41, line 24, leave out subsections (8) to (12).

182 Clause 42, page 51, line 30, leave out subsection (1) and insert— (1) Where an insurance company carries on long term business, any amount properly transferred to the profit and loss account of the company from a surplus in the fund or funds maintained by it in respect of that business and any deficit in that fund or those funds shall be respectively treated for the purposes of this Part of this Act as a realised profit and a realised loss, and, subject to the foregoing, any profit or loss arising in that business shall be left out of account for those purposes. (1A) In subsection (1) above—

  1. (a) the reference to a surplus in any fund or funds of an insurance company is a reference to an excess of the assets representing that fund or those funds over the liabilities of the company attributable to its long term business, as shown by an actuarial investigation; and
  2. (b) the reference to a deficit in any such fund or funds is a reference to the excess of those liabilities over those assets, as so shown."

183 Clause 42, line 34, at end insert— actuarial investigation"means an investigation to which section 14 of the Insurance Companies Act 1974 (periodic acturial investigation of company with long term business) applies or which is made in pursuance of a requirement imposed by section 34 of that Act (actuarial investigation required by the Secretary of State);

184 Clause 42, line 36, leave out "the Insurance Companies Act 1974" and insert "that Act"

185 Clause 42, line 39, leave out from "Act" to the end of line 9 on page 52.

186 Clause 43, page 55, line 5, after "of" insert "the state of"

187 Clause 43, page 55, line 16, at end insert— "reserves" includes undistributable reserves within the meaning of section 40 above;

188 Clause 45, page 56, line 1, leave out subsection (1) and insert— (1) Where immediately before the appointed day a company is authorised by any provision of its articles to apply its unrealised profits in paying up in full or in part unissued shares to be allotted to members of the company as fully or partly paid bonus shares, that provision shall, subject to any subsequent alteration of the articles, continue to be construed as authorising those profits to be so applied after the appointed day.

189 Clause 45, page 56, line 15, after "fully" insert "or partly"

190 Clause 45, page 56, line 16, leave out from"shares"to end of line 17 and insert"out of the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares made for the purposes of the redemption and the payment of any premium on their redemption out of the company's share premium account; "

191 Clause 45, page 56, line 23, at end insert— (2A) In this Part of this Act"capitalisation ", in relation to any profits of a company, means any of the following operations, whether carried out before, on or after the appointed day, that is to say, applying the profits in wholly or partly paying up unissued shares in the company to be allotted to members of the company as fully or partly paid bonus shares or transferring the profits to the capital redemption reserve fund.

191 Clause 45, page 56, line 24, at end insert"of any description are references respectively to profits and losses of that description made at any time, whether before, on or after the appointed day and ".

Lord LYELL

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 180 to 192 en bloc.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendments.— —Lord Lyell.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.