---

Companies Bill [Lords]

The right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) has been in the Chamber for much of our proceedings and has made a welcome contribution. However, I must tell him that the new clauses in this group, those that we have just discussed and many others are simply a restatement of existing legislation. At the behest of Members of the House of Lords, we decided to incorporate the provisions in one place so that it would be easier for businesses—especially small businesses, which are enabled by much of the legislation to act more effectively and efficiently, with less regulation—to ensure that they understood and could cope with the law. The new clauses in this group restate part 15 of the Companies Act 1985 in so far as the provisions apply in relation to part 23 of the Bill. Part 23 enables public companies and members of those companies to ascertain the underlying beneficial owners of shares. The company may apply to the court for an order under clause 803 directing that the shares in question be subject to various restrictions under part 15 of the 1985 Act, which include voiding any transfer of the shares and providing that voting rights are not exercisable in respect of the shares. Those provisions are restated without substantive change in the new clauses. Part 15 will remain in the 1985 Act because it also applies to part 14 of that Act, which will remain in force. Nevertheless, we think that it is helpful to make a restatement through the new clauses so that the reader can find all the relevant provisions for part 23 in one place. Again, we have consulted on the new clauses and we are especially grateful to the Law Society for its useful comments.