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Company Law Reform Bill [Lords]

Again, we thought that that was the right thing to do. Perhaps I will come back to the hon. Lady if she wants that to be explained further. What the appropriate accounting period should be is always a matter of judgment, but I will happily come back to her on that matter. We think that the Bill will save businesses about £250 million a year, of which £100 million will benefit small businesses—so the deregulatory measures are important. In relation to the engagement of shareholders and encouraging long-term thinking, the Bill also carries forward the long-established principle of enabling shareholders to be the primary regulators of corporate behaviour. It is designed to encourage and enable companies to create internal structures and controls that will promote trust and transparency and lead to better performance. The Bill also contains a number of other provisions, to which I want briefly to turn. The first seven parts relate to the fundamentals of a company and how it can be formed. Later in the Bill, there are clauses that remove any obstacles to electronic incorporation. There are a number of measures on shareholders and management generally. Part 8 provides a balance between, on the one hand, the public right to know who a company’s members are and how to contact them, and, on the other, protecting members from attempts to defraud or harass them. There is one important measure that I hope will be supported on both sides of the House—the part of the Bill that is designed to protect directors and shareholders in companies that have been targeted by a tiny minority of people who threaten or intimidate them simply because they do not agree with them. The measure will allow directors’ names to be withheld and will also mean that if a company suspects that someone is trying to get hold of its register of shareholders for an improper purpose, it can get the protection of the court. The measure has been widely welcomed by the industry, and I hope that it will be welcomed by everybody in the House, because it is important that we show our unconditional support for people who are exposed to that totally unjustified behaviour.