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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I am sure the Committee is very grateful to the noble and learned Lord for that extensive introduction and his explanation of why the Government believe the Takeover Panel has earned its spurs in a rule-making capacity. I do not resile from what I said on Second Reading; I think the Takeover Panel has been one of the great successes of the London financial scene and has played a major role in ensuring that London remains the leading European financial centre. Let me add, as we have tabled a number of amendments, that we have no wish to hamper the panel’s work by imposing unduly burdensome or restrictive legislation. However, since this is the first time that the panel will come within a statutory wrapper, there are some issues in the Bill that are worth a public airing. Therefore, we want to scrutinise this part of the Bill and will be doing so in a positive way over the next hour or so. I am slightly surprised at the number of representations we have had. I expected that we would have pretty much a clear run through this part of the Bill, but there has been a concern that the panel may have moved into a slightly more bureaucratic, box-ticking mindset. Some of our amendments are designed to address that, to ensure that the great success that it has had—which is based on its flexibility and its ability to respond quickly, as the noble and learned Lord said—can be maintained in future.