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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

My Lords, not all adult children may be quite as independent as that of the noble Lord, Lord Sharman. The Law Commission looked at this. Children over the age of 18 are not currently included in the definition for these purposes. The Law Commission recommended that the definition be extended to include adult children, which was supported by their consultation. The Company Law Review endorsed that and the Government are seeking to implement it. As the Law Commission pointed out, it seems somewhat anomalous that approval should be required for a loan to a director’s 16 year-old child but not to his 20 year-old child. In many cases, adult children will continue to have strong emotional, and possibly financial, ties to their parents. There is obvious scope for avoidance if the definition is not extended to cover adult children. I entirely accept that there may be cases, such as that of the family of the noble Lord, Lord Sharman, where such independence is extreme—or strong, at least.