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Company Law Reform Bill

moved Amendment No. 175:"Page 70, line 21, at end insert ““, and may be given by them either in relation to a particular matter or generally, following receipt by them of a general notice in accordance with section 168””" The noble Lord said: In moving Amendment No. 175, I shall speak to Amendment No. 175A. The amendments are the result of representations made to us by the legal profession, particularly the Law Society and leading firms of solicitors. The purpose of Amendment No. 175 is to alleviate the problem of conflicts of interests for directors of more than one company. We debated that in our previous Committee sitting. We believe that the amendment will help to address, in part, the difficulties described in other amendments to Clause 159, most of which we have dealt with, in relation to conflicts of interests which will be faced by a director of several companies. Amendment No. 175A is offered as mechanism for solving the problem. The reason for the amendment is to ensure that, where a director may be deemed interested in the affairs of another company or a person with whom he is connected, any conflict of interest arising out of that relationship may be authorised in general terms. I would argue that that would greatly assist, for example, directors who hold more than one directorship. I beg to move.