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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. A238: "Page 386, line 4, at end insert ““or any person acting on the delegated authority of that body””" The noble Baroness said: The amendment has been suggested by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Clause 815 gives an important exemption from liability in relation to the discharge of the work of a supervisory body. The persons who can qualify for that protection are listed in subsection (2), which covers the supervisory body, its officers and employees, and members of its governing bodies. Subsection (2) does not cover people who work on the functions of the supervisory body, usually through the committee structures of the body, those persons being independent of the body itself. For example, the Institute of Chartered Accountants has a large number of committees which are dominated by ordinary members of the institute. Ordinary members who are not members of the governing body would not be covered by subsection (2). Equally importantly, many of the committees, especially those dealing with audit qualification issues, will have independent lay members who are also not covered by the subsection (2) list. I am aware that the clause repeats existing law, but I hope that the Minister will agree that the coverage of subsection (2) is deficient. I beg to move.