Mr. F. OWENasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he is aware that certain public companies have de- 1705W layed the filing and publication of their accounts beyond the period demanded by the Companies Act, 1929; and whether he intends to take steps against the directors of offending companies;
(2) if he is aware that in certain instances the Companies Registration Department at Somerset House has had its attention drawn to delay in filing of accounts from public companies before taking action of its own to bring those companies' files up to date; and whether he will take steps to provide a more stringent filing system at Somerset House to provide an immediate check upon companies which are in delay with their accounts?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMThe Companies Act, 1929, requires that public companies shall file with the Registrar their annual return, together with the last audited balance sheet, within 28 days after the first or only general meeting of the year. It is the practice of the Registrar, in the early part of the year, to review his records in order to ascertain which companies are in default in respect of the previous year, and such steps are taken thereafter as may be necessary to secure the production of the annual return and balance sheet. I may add that the Registrar, without waiting for his annual scrutiny, is prepared at all times to take the appropriate steps when he receives definite information that the annual return of a particular company is overdue. It is also open to any person to take proceedings in case of default.