§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade what statutory provisions control the requirements of companies to publish full details of their share transactions in another company for which they are making a takeover bid; and what is the sanction when such regulations are broken.
§ Mr. EyreSection 13 of the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958 makes it a criminal offence to make a false or misleading statement in an offer document. An offer document distributed by a licensed dealer must disclose any 615W holding by or on behalf of the offeror in the offeree company under the Licensed Dealer (Conduct of Business) Rules 1960 made under section 7 of the Act. The statutory rules do not apply to exempted dealers or to members of the Stock Exchange, but the Stock Exchange has its own rules to similar effect.