HC Deb 06 March 1951 vol 485 c36W
81. Mr. McAdden

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consider amending Section 164 of the Companies Act, 1948, to ensure that, when an investigation is ordered into the affairs of a company at the request of a minority of the shareholders, the names of the complainants and the nature of their charges are made known to the directors of the company concerned.

Mr. Rhodes

No. I do not consider that it would be desirable to place any such obligation on the Board of Trade. The Board of Trade frequently communicate to the directors of the company the grounds of an application before appointing an inspector, and in some cases this may render an investigation unnecessary. But there are cases in which notification would be undesirable. When an inspector has been appointed, it should be left to him to decide the course of the investigation. In either case, it would be undesirable to cause further dissension in the company by requiring the disclosure of the names of the applicants.