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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

The Minister’s answer was given in the context of larger companies. A huge number of relatively small companies are formed, for example, to hold the freehold property and to carry out two or three transactions a year on behalf of the people who share the property. It frequently arises that one or other of the shareholders who is interested in a part of the property seems to need access to another part of the company’s memorandum, articles or any other legal document, and there seems to be a stream of requests because people do not value bits of information they are given for free. Once information has been provided, there should be an ability to charge shareholders if they request the same information again. The needs of small companies are perhaps not met by the Minister’s reply.