§ Sir Geoffrey FinsbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking in line with the undertaking given by his predecessor in column 681 of Standing Committee D of 29 June 1989 to ensure that small shareholders will continue to be able to insist on having share certificates in companies when the TAURUS proposals are fully implemented; whether he is receiving acceptable assurances and co-operation from the stock exchange to that end; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 29 October 1990]: Regulations which are being draften now, and which I will ask this House to affirm next year, will set out the steps any company must take if it wishes to join TAURUS. The regulations the Government will bring forward will not oblige companies to join, and will provide that a company may not do so unless its members have passed a resolution agreeing to such entry.
The consultative paper "Electronic recording and transfer of shares", published by my Department in July, sought comments on whether companies should be required to permit inactive shareholders the option of continuing with a certified holding, at least for an initial period even when the company had voted to join TAURUS. Some respondents considered that companies should have the option of retaining a certificated portion of their register, but only for shareholders who never transferred shares through the market. The clear majority of respondents argued for all shares of any company joining TAURUS to be uncertificated for the purposes of legal transfer and recording. Some companies may decide to join TAURUS but to issue a paper confirmation of holding to all those using the company's own account likely to be used by most small independent shareholders. This may be sufficient. I am considering the position of small shareholders in the light of all representations made about the full package of proposals for TAURUS, taking particular account of the need to safeguard the interests of
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Table 11 Prosecutions by the Department: 1983 Section Offence Prosecutions (Number of offences) Convictions Number dismissed (including acquitals) Number not proceeded with (withdrawn, not served or left on file) Number adjourned to later hearing date (a) Companies Act 1948 126 Failure to forward an annual return 1,494 848 13 460 173 187 Undischarged bankrupt acting as a director or concerned in the management of a company 23 20 — 3 — 283 Not having reasonable grounds for declaration of solvency 2 2 — — — 328 Offences by officers of company in liquidation 12 5 — 7 — 330 Frauds by officers of company in liquidation 4 1 2 1 — 331 Failure to keep proper books of account 2 2 — — — 332 Fraudulent trading 16 8 23 7 — (b) Companies Act 1976 1(7) Failure to deliver accounts1 1,920 1,188 15 528 189 12 Failure to keep accounting record 76 57 — 19 — 161 Companies Act 1948 Auditor not 13 Companies Act 1976 qualified to act 1 1 — — — 33 Companies Act 1967 Failure to notify company of 26 Companies Act 1976 acquisition, etc. of voting shares 4 4 — — — 1 497 companies and 871 directors were involved in the prosecutions. 2 2 convictions recorded in 1982, were quashed on appeal in 1983. small investors alongside the wish of the stock exchange to move rapidly to the TAURUS system to improve its international competitiveness.