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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I am grateful for the intervention but I suggest that the noble Baroness considers further what I have said about the way through that problem being through Clause 159(4) and, in particular, paragraph (b) of that subsection. That provides a route for authorisation by the directors and it is one of the changes being made. I hope that noble Lords will see that it is intended precisely to meet not only modernisation, to which the noble Baroness referred, but also the requirements of modern business. However, we do not say that this should happen just because in the mind of a director it is all right; there should be a process for the company, through its members or directors, to make that decision, and that is what these new provisions permit. Clause 159(4)(a) also recognises that unexpected situations can arise where a conflict exists, and you are not in breach because of that. Once you know the conflict is there, that is a different matter. Once you know that you are now in a situation of conflict, you will have to do something about it, but you are not in breach simply because it happened when, as is set out in subsection (4)(a), it could not ,"““reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to””," the conflict. I give way.