§ 130 After Clause 56, insert the following new clause:
§ ("Investigation and report on requisition of members.
§ .—(1) A company may be required to exercise its powers under section (Power of company to require information with respect to interests in its voting shares) of this Act on the requisition of members of the company holding at the date of the deposit of the requisition not less than one-tenth of such of the paid up capital of the company as carries at that date the right of voting at general meetings of the company.
§ (2) The requisition must—
- (a) state that the requisitionists are requiring the company to exercise its powers under section (Power of company to require information with respect to interests in its voting shares) of this Act;
- (b) specify the manner in which they require those powers to be exercised; and
- (c) give reasonable grounds for requiring the company to exercise those powers in the manner specified;
§ (3) The requisition may consist of several documents in like form each signed by one or more requisitionists.
§ (4) On the deposit of a requisition which complies with this section it shall be the duty of the company to exercise its powers under section (Power of company to require information with respect to interests in its voting shares) of this Act in the manner specified in the requisition.
§ (5) On the conclusion of any investigation carried out by a company in pursuance of a requisition under this section it shall be the duty of the company to cause a report of the information received in pursuance of that investigation to be prepared, and that report shall be made available at the registered office of the company within a reasonable period after the conclusion of that investigation.
§ (6) Where—
- (a) a company undertakes an investigation in pursuance of a requisition under this section; and
- (b) that investigation is not concluded before the end of the period of three months beginning with the date immediately following the date of the deposit of the requisition;
§ (7) The period for making any report prepared under this section available as required by subsection (5) or (6) above shall not exceed fifteen days.
§ (8) A report prepared under this section shall not include any information with respect to a company entitled to avail itself of the benefit conferred by section 3(3) or 4(3) of the 1967 Act (where disclosure of substantial holdings in bodies incorporated or carrying on business outside the United Kingdom would be harmful) but where any such information is omitted that fact shall be stated in the report.
§ (9) The company shall within three days of making any report prepared under this section available at its registered office notify the requisitionists that the report is so available.
§ (10) An investigation carried out by a company in pursuance of a requisition under this section shall be regarded for the purposes of this section as concluded when the company has made all such enquiries as are necessary or expedient for the purposes of the requisition and, in the case of each such enquiry, either a response has been received by the company or the time allowed for a response has elapsed.
§ (11) Any report prepared under this section—
- (a) shall be kept at the company's registered office from the day on which it is first made available there in accordance with subsection (5) or (6) above until the expiration of the period of six years beginning with the day next following that day; and
- (b) shall be available for inspection in accordance with section (Inspection of register and reports) of this Act so long as it is so kept.
§ (12) If default is made in complying with subsection (4), (5). (6), (9) or (11)(a) above the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable—
- (a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine; and
- (b) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum").
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, this is a consequential amendment. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their amendment.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Trefgarne.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.