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Companies Bill [Lords]

The amendment will permit disclosure to be made for civil proceedings overseas. In Committee, I agreed to consider a useful proposal made by the Opposition to allow disclosure for overseas proceedings by intellectual property rights holders. I agreed to consider this, as I recognised that brand owners and those with an interest in intellectual property rights would have a particular interest in enforcing their rights overseas. However, the disclosure provisions in clause 1245 have been drawn up on the basis that business and consumers are treated equally. Therefore, I asked my officials to discuss further with a range of stakeholders whether we should amend the clause to enable disclosure for overseas civil proceedings with respect to business and consumers and not just limit it to IP rights holders. In general, the feedback from our consultation with stakeholders was positive in supporting disclosure provisions for overseas civil proceedings for business and consumers, and we agree with that view. Consumers are increasingly likely to purchase goods and services from overseas, so it makes sense to allow them the information that they need if they choose to seek cross-border redress. I recognise that businesses have some concerns about widening the gateway, but I simply point out that, as with the existing gateway for overseas disclosure, we have excluded from what may be disclosed sensitive information provided in connection with competition inquiries. On the basis of that explanation, I hope that amendment No. 740 will be accepted, so we will not need to consider amendments Nos. 436, 437 and 438.