§ Sir John WheelerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will review the law with regard to partnerships so as to require accounts to be audited and registered for public reference; and if he will make a statement on the level of fraud arising from defaulting partners(a) among solicitors and (b) otherwise.
31W
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonDisclosure of accounts is regarded as part of the price of limited liability, and I therefore have no plans to require such disclosures for the majority of partnerships in which the partners jointly and severally have unlimited liability. As regards partnerships where all the members are limited liability companies, I refer my hon. Friend to the consultative document on the EC partnerships directive which my Department issued on 10 November. Questions about solicitors are a matter for my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department. I have no information about levels of fraud committed by members of partnerships.