400 Oversea companies may be wound up although dissolved.
Where a company incorporated outside Great Britain which has been carrying on business in Great Britain ceases to carry on business in Great Britain, it may be wound up as an unregistered company under this Part of this Act, notwithstanding that it has been dissolved or otherwise ceased to exist as a company under or by virtue of the laws of the country under which it was incorporated.
401 Contributories in winding up of unregistered company.
(1) In the event of an unregistered company being wound up, every person shall be deemed to be a contributory who is liable to pay or contribute to the payment of any debt or liability of the company, or to pay or contribute to the payment of any sum for the adjustment of the rights of the members among themselves, or to pay or contribute to the payment of the costs and expenses of winding up the company, and every contributory shall be liable to contribute to the assets of the company all sums due from him in respect of any such liability as aforesaid:
Provided that, in the case of an unregistered company within the stannaries, a past member shall not be liable to contribute to the assets of the company if he has ceased to be a member for two years or more either before the mine ceased to be worked or before the date of the winding-up order.
(2) In the event of the death, bankruptcy or insolvency of any contributory or marriage of any female contributory, the provisions of this Act with respect to the personal representatives, to the heirs and legatees of heritage of the heritable estate in Scotland of deceased contributories, to the trustees of bankrupt or insolvent contributories and to the liabilities of husbands and wives respectively shall apply.
402 Power of court to stay or restrain proceedings.
The provisions of this Act with respect to staying and restraining actions and proceedings against a company at any time after the presentation of a petition for winding up and before the making of a winding-up order shall, in the case of an unregistered company, where the application to stay or restrain is by a creditor, extend to actions and proceedings against any contributory of the company.
Where an order has been made for winding up an unregistered company, no action or proceeding shall be proceeded with or commenced against any contributory of the company in respect of any debt of the company, except by leave of the court, and subject to such terms as the court may impose.
The provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to unregistered companies shall be in addition to and not in restriction of any provisions hereinbefore in this Act contained with respect to winding up companies by the court, and the court or liquidator may exercise any powers or do any act in the case of unregistered companies which might be exercised or done by it or him in winding up Companies formed and registered under this Act:
Provided that an unregistered company shall not, except in the event of its being wound up, be deemed to be a company under this Act, and then only to the extent provided by this Part of this Act.
405 Saving for enactments providing for winding up under former Companies Acts.
Nothing in this Part of this Act shall affect the operation of any enactment which provides for any partnership, association or company being wound up, or being wound up as a company or as an unregistered company, under the Companies Act, 1929, or any enactment repealed by that Act.
The next eight following sections shall apply to all oversea companies, that is to say, companies incorporated outside Great Britain which, after the commencement of this Act, establish a place of business within Great Britain, and companies incorporated outside Great Britain which have, before the commencement of this Act, established a place of business within Great Britain and continue to have an established place of business within Great Britain at the commencement of this Act.
407 Documents, &c, to be delivered to registrar by oversea companies carrying on business in Great Britain.
(1) Oversea companies which, after the commencement of this Act, establish a place of business within Great Britain shall, within one month of the establishment of the place of business, deliver to the registrar of companies for registration:—
(a) a certified copy of the charter, statutes or memorandum and articles of the company or other instrument constituting or defining the constitution of the company, and, if the instrument is not written in the English language, a certified translation thereof;
(b) a list of the directors and secretary of the company containing the particulars mentioned in the next following subsection;
(c) the names and addresses of some one or more persons resident in Great Britain authorised to accept on behalf of the company service of process and any notices required to be served on the company.
(2) The list referred to in paragraph (b) of the foregoing subsection shall contain the following particulars, that is to say,—
(a) with respect to each director,—
(i) in the case of an individual, his present Christian name and surname and any former Christian name or surname, his usual residential address, his nationality and his business occupation, if any, or if he has no business occupation but holds any other directorship or directorships, particulars of that directorship or of some one of those directorships; and,
(ii) in the case of a corporation, its corporate name and registered or principal office;
(b) with respect to the secretary or, where there are joint secretaries, with respect to each of them,—
(i) in the case of an individual, his present Christian name and surname, any former Christian name and surname and his usual residential address; and
(ii) in the case of a corporation .or a Scottish firm, its corporate or firm name and registered or principal office:
Provided that, where all the partners in a firm are joint secretaries of the company, the name and principal office of the firm may be stated instead of the particulars mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (9) of section two hundred of this Act shall apply for the purpose of the construction of references in this subsection to present and former Christian names and surnames as they apply for the purpose of the construction of such references in that section.
(3) Oversea companies, other than those mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, shall, if at the commencement of this Act they have not delivered to the registrar—
(a) in the case of a company mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of section three hundred and forty-four of the Companies Act, 1929, the documents and particulars specified in subsection (1) of that section;
(b) in the case of a company not so mentioned, the documents and particulars specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of section two hundred and seventy-four of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, as amended by the Companies (Particulars as to Directors) Act, 1917;
continue subject to the obligation to deliver those documents and particulars in accordance with the said Act of 1929 or the said Acts of 1908 and 1917, as the case may be.
Where an oversea company has delivered to the registrar of companies—
(a) in the case of a company to which subsection (1) of the last foregoing section applies, the documents and particulars therein .mentioned ;
(b) in the case of a company mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of section three hundred and forty-four of the Companies Act, 1929, the documents and particulars specified in subsection (1) of that section;
(c) in the case of any other company, the documents and particulars specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of section two hundred and seventy-four of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, as amended by the Companies (Particulars as to Directors) Act, 1917;
it shall have the same power to hold lands in the United Kingdom as if it. were a company incorporated under this Act:
Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the power of a company to hold lands by virtue of registration in Northern Ireland.
409 Return to be delivered to registrar by oversea company where documents, &c., altered.
If any alteration is made in—
(a) the charter, statutes, or memorandum and articles of an oversea company or any such instrument as aforesaid; or
(b) the directors or secretary of an oversea company or the particulars contained in the list of the directors and secretary; or
(c) the names or addresses of the persons authorised to accept service on behalf of an oversea company;
the company shall, within the prescribed time, deliver to the registrar for registration a return containing the prescribed particulars of the alteration.
(1) Every oversea company shall, in every calendar year, make out a balance sheet and profit and loss account and, if the company is a holding company, group accounts, in such form, and containing such particulars and including such documents, as under the provisions of this Act (subject, however, to any prescribed exceptions) it would, if it had been a company within the meaning of this Act, have been required to make out and lay before the company in general meeting, and deliver copies of those documents to the registrar of companies:
Provided that a company registered under the law relating to companies for the time being in force in Northern Ireland and having provisions in its constitution which would, if it had been registered in Great Britain, entitle it to rank as a private company, need not comply with the foregoing provisions of this subsection if there is delivered to the registrar a certificate signed by a director and by the secretary of the company that, had section one hundred and twenty-nine of, and the Seventh Schedule to, this Act extended to Northern Ireland it would at the date of the certificate have been an exempt private company.
(2) If any such document as is mentioned in the foregoing subsection is not written in the English language, there shall be annexed to it a certified translation thereof.
411 Obligation to state name of oversea company, whether limited, and country where incorporated.
Every oversea company shall—
(a) in every prospectus inviting subscriptions for its shares or debentures in Great Britain state the country in which the company is incorporated; and
(b) conspicuously exhibit on every place where it carries on business in Great Britain the name of the company and the country in which the company is incorporated; and
(c) cause the name of the company and of the country in which the company is incorporated to be stated in legible characters in all bill-heads and letter paper, and in all notices and other official publications of the company; and
(d) if the liability of the members of the company is limited, cause notice of that fact to be stated in legible characters in every such prospectus as aforesaid and in all bill-heads, letter paper, notices and other official publications of the company in Great Britain, and to be affixed on every place where it carries on its business.
Any process or notice required to be served on an oversea company shall be sufficiently served if addressed to any person whose name has been delivered to the registrar under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act and left at or sent by post to the address which has been so delivered:
Provided that—
(a) where any such company makes default in delivering to the registrar the name and address of a person resident in Great Britain who is authorised to accept on behalf of the company service of process or notices; or
(b) if at any time all the persons whose names and addresses have been so delivered are dead or have ceased so to reside, or refuse to accept service on behalf of the company, or for any reason cannot be served;
a document, may be served on the company by leaving it at or sending it by post to any place of business established by the company in Great Britain.
(1) Any document, which any oversea company is required to deliver to the registrar of companies, shall be delivered to the registrar at the registration office in England or Scotland according as the company has established a place of business in England or Scotland, and if it has established or establishes a place of business both in England and in Scotland, the document shall be delivered at the registration office both in England and in Scotland, and references to the registrar of companies in this Part of this Act shall be construed accordingly.
(2) If any oversea company ceases to have a place of business in either part of Great Britain, it shall forthwith give notice of the fact to the registrar of companies for that part, and as from the date on which notice is so given the obligation of the company to deliver any document to the registrar shall cease.
If any oversea company fails to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act the company, and every officer or agent of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or, in the case of a continuing offence, five pounds for every day during which the default continues.
For the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act:—
the expression “certified ” means certified in the prescribed manner to be a true copy or a correct translation;
the expression “director ” in relation to a company includes any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are accustomed to act;
the expression “place of business ” includes a share transfer or share registration office;
the expression “prospectus ” has the same meaning as when used in relation to a company incorporated under this Act;
the expression “secretary ” includes any person occupying the position of secretary by whatever name called.
416 Special provisions as to delivery of documents by companies incorporated in Channel Islands or Isle of Man.
Where a company incorporated in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man—
(a) after the commencement of this Act establishes a place of business in England or Scotland; or
(b) has before the commencement of this Act established and at the commencement of this Act continues to have a place of business in England or Scotland;
all the provisions of this Act requiring documents to be forwarded or delivered to, or filed with, the registrar of companies (other than provisions requiring the payment of a fee in respect of the registration of a company) shall apply to the company in like manner as if it were a company registered in England or Scotland, as the case may be, and if the company establishes places of business both in England and in Scotland the said provisions shall so apply as if the company were registered both in England and in Scotland.
417 Dating of prospectus and particulars to be contained therein.
(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to issue, circulate or distribute in Great Britain any prospectus offering for subscription shares in or debentures of a company incorporated or to be incorporated outside Great Britain, whether the Company has or has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business in Great Britain unless tne prospectus is dated and—
(a) contains particulars with respect to the following matters:—
(i) the instrument constituting or defining the constitution of the company;
(ii) the enactments, or provisions having the force of an enactment, by or under which the incorporation of the company was effected;
(iii) an address in Great Britain where the said instrument, enactments or provisions, or copies thereof, and if the same are in a foreign language a translation thereof certified in the prescribed manner, can be inspected;
(iv) the date on which and the country in which, the company was incorporated;
(v) whether the company has established a place of business in Great Britain, and, if so, the address of its principal office in Great Britain;
(b) subject to the provisions of this section, states the matters specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act and sets out the reports specified in Part II of that Schedule, subject always to the provisions contained in Part III of that Schedule:
Provided that the provisions of sub-paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not apply in the case of a prospectus issued more than two years after the date at which the company is entitled to commence business, and, in the application of Part I of the Fourth Schedule for the purposes of this subsection, paragraph 2 thereof shall have effect with the substitution, for the reference to the articles, of a reference to the constitution of the company.
(2) Any condition requiring or binding an applicant for shares or debentures to waive compliance with any requirement imposed by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b) of the foregoing subsection, or purporting to affect him with notice of any contract, document or matter not specifically referred to in the prospectus, shall be void.
(3) It shall not be lawful for any person to issue to any person in Great Britain a form of application for shares in or debentures of such a company or intended company as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section unless the form is issued with a prospectus which complies with this Part of this Act and the issue whereof in Great Britain does not contravene the provisions of section four hundred and nineteen of this Act:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply if it is shown that the form of application was issued in connection with a bona fide invitation to a person to enter into an underwriting agreement with respect to the shares or debentures.
(4) In the event of non-compliance with or contravention of any of the requirements imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section, a director or other person responsible for the prospectus shall not incur any liability by reason of the non-compliance or contravention, if—
(a) as regards any matter not disclosed, he proves that he was not cognisant thereof; or
(b) he proves that the non-compliance or contravention arose from an honest mistake of fact on his part; or
(c) the non-compliance or contravention was in respect of matters which, in the opinion of the court dealing with the case, were immaterial or were otherwise such as ought, in the opinion of that court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, reasonably to be excused:
Provided that, in the event of failure to include in a prospectus a statement with respect to the matters contained in paragraph 16 of the Fourth Schedule to this Act, no director or other person shall incur any liability in respect of the failure unless it be proved that he had knowledge of the matters not disclosed.
(5) This section—
(a) shall not apply to the issue to existing members or debenture holders of a company of a prospectus or form of application relating to shares in or debentures of the company, whether an applicant for shares or debentures will or will not have the right to renounce in favour of other persons; and
(b) except in so far as it requires a prospectus to be dated, shall not apply to the issue of a prospectus relating to shares or debentures which are or are to be in all respects uniform with shares or debentures previously issued and for the time being dealt in or quoted on a prescribed stock exchange;
but, subject as aforesaid, this section shall apply to a prospectus or form of application whether issued on or with reference to the formation of a company or subsequently.
(6) Nothing in this section shall limit or diminish any liability which any person may incur under the general law or this Act, apart from this section.
418 Exclusion of foregoing section and relaxation of Fourth Schedule in case of certain prospectuses.
(1) Where—
(a) it is proposed to offer to the public by a prospectus issued generally any shares in or debentures of a company incorporated or to be incorporated outside Great Britain, whether the company has or has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business in Great Britain; and
(b) application is made to a prescribed stock exchange for permission for those shares or debentures to be dealt in or quoted on that stock exchange;
there may on the request of the applicant be given by or on behalf of that stock exchange a certificate of exemption, that is to say, a certificate that, having regard to the proposals (as stated in the request) as to the size and other circumstances of the issue of shares or debentures and as to any limitation on the number and class of persons to whom the offer is to be made, compliance with the requirements of the Fourth Schedule to this Act would be unduly burdensome.
(2) If a certificate of exemption is given, and if the proposals aforesaid are adhered to and the particulars and information required to be published in connection with the application for permission to the stock exchange are so published, then—
(a) a prospectus giving the particulars and information aforesaid in the form in which they are so required to be published shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of the Fourth Schedule to this Act; and
(b) except in so far as it requires a prospectus to be dated, the last foregoing section snail not apply to any issue, after the permission applied for is given, of a prospectus or form of application relating to the shares or debentures.
419 Provisions as to expert's consent, and allotment.
(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to issue, circulate or distribute in Great Britain any prospectus offering for subscription shares in or debentures of a company incorporated or to be incorporated outside Great Britain, whether the company has or has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business in Great Britain,—
(a) if, where the prospectus includes a statement purporting to be made by an expert, he has not given, or has before delivery of the prospectus for registration withdrawn, his written consent to the issue of the prospectus with the statement included in the form and context in which it is included or there does not appear in the prospectus a statement that he has given and has not withdrawn his consent as aforesaid; or
(b) if the prospectus does not have the effect, where an application is made in pursuance thereof, of rendering all persons concerned bound by all the provisions (other than penal provisions) of sections fifty and fifty-one of this Act so far as applicable.
(2) In this section the expression “expert ” includes engineer, valuer, accountant and any other person whose profession gives authority to a statement made by him, and for the purposes of this section a statement shall be deemed to be included in a prospectus if it is contained therein or in any report or memorandum appearing on the face thereof or by reference incorporated therein or issued therewith.
(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to issue, circulate or distribute in Great Britain any prospectus offering for subscription shares in or debentures of a company incorporated or to be incorporated outside Great Britain, whether the company has or has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business in Great Britain, unless before the issue, circulation or distribution of the prospectus in Great Britain, a copy thereof certified by the chairman and two other directors of the company as having been approved by resolution of the managing body has been delivered for registration to the registrar of companies, and the prospectus states on the face of it that a copy as been so delivered, and there is endorsed on or attached to the copy—
(a) any consent to the issue of the prospectus required by the last foregoing section;
(b) a copy of any contract required by paragraph 14 of the Fourth Schedule to this Act to be stated in the prospectus or, in the case of a contract not reduced into writing, a memorandum giving full particulars thereof or, if in the case of a prospectus deemed by virtue of a certificate granted under section four hundred and eighteen of this Act to comply with the requirements of that Schedule, a contract or a copy thereof or a memorandum of a contract is required to be available for inspection in connection with the application under that section to the stock exchange in question, a copy or, as the case may be, a memorandum of that contract; and
(c) where the persons making any report required by Part II of that Schedule have made therein or have, without giving the reasons, indicated therein any such adjustments as are mentioned in paragraph 29 of that Schedule, a written statement signed by those persons setting out the adjustments and giving the reasons therefor.
(2) The references in paragraph (b) of the foregoing subsection to the copy of a contract required thereby to be endorsed on or attached to a copy of the prospectus shall, in the case of a contract wholly or partly in a foreign language, be taken as references to a copy of a translation of the contract in English or a copy embodying a translation in English of the parts in a foreign language, as the case may be, being a translation certified in the prescribed manner to be a correct translation, and the reference to a copy of a contract required to be available for inspection shall include a reference to a copy of a translation thereof or a copy embodying a translation of parts thereof.
421 Penalty for contravention of four foregoing sections.
Any person who is knowingly responsible for the issue, circulation or distribution of a prospectus, or for the issue of a form of application for shares or debentures, in contravention of any of the provisions of the four last foregoing sections shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.
422 Civil liability for mis-statements in prospectus.
Section forty-three of this Act shall extend to every prospectus offering for subscription shares in or debentures of a company incorporated or to be incorporated outside Great, Britain, whether the company has or has not established, or when formed will or will not establish, a place of business in Great Britain, with the substitution, for references to section forty of this Act, of references to section four hundred and nineteen thereof.
423 Interpretation of provisions as to prospectuses.
(1) Where any document by which any shares in or debentures of a company incorporated outside Great Britain are offered for sale to the public would, if the company concerned had been a company within the meaning of this Act, have been deemed by virtue of section forty-five of this Act to be a prospectus issued by the company, that document shall be deemed to be, for the purpose of this Part of this Act, a prospectus issued by the company.
(2) An offer of shares or debentures for subscription or sale to any person whose ordinary business it is to buy or sell shares or debentures, whether as principal or agent, shall not be deemed an offer to the public for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(3) In this Part of this Act the expressions “prospectus ”, “shares ” and “debentures ” have the same meanings as when used in relation to a company incorporated under this Act.
(1) For the purposes of the registration of companies under this Act/there shall be offices in England and Scotland at such places as the Board of Trade think fit.
(2) The Board of Trade may appoint such registrars, assistant registrars, clerks and servants as the Board think necessary for the registration of companies under this Act, and may make regulations with respect to their duties, and may remove any persons so appointed.
(3) The salaries of the persons appointed under this section shall be fixed by the Board of Trade with the concurrence of the Treasury, and shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.
(4) The Board of Trade may require that the office of the registrar of the court exercising in respect of the winding up of companies the stannaries jurisdiction shall be one of the offices for the registration of companies within that jurisdiction.
(5) The Board may direct a seal or seals to be prepared for the authentication of documents required for or connected with the registration of companies.
(6) Whenever any act is by this Act directed to be done to or by the registrar of companies, it shall, until the Board of Trade otherwise direct, be done to or by the existing registrar of companies in England or Scotland, as the case may be, or in his absence to or by such person as the Board may for the time being authorise:
Provided that, in the event of the Board altering the constitution of the existing registry offices or any of them, any such act shall be done to or by such officer and at such place with reference to the local situation of the registered offices of the companies to be registered as the Board may appoint.
(1) In respect of the several matters mentioned in the first column of the table set out in Part I of the Twelfth Schedule to this Act, there shall, subject to the limitations imposed by Part II of that Schedule, be paid to the registrar the several fees specified in the second column of that table:
Provided that no fees shall be charged in respect of the registration in pursuance of Part VIII of this Act of a company if it is not registered as a limited company, or if before its registration as a limited company the liability of the shareholders was limited by some other Act of Parliament or by letters patent.
(2) All fees paid to the registrar in pursuance of this Act shall be paid into the Exchequer.
426 Inspection, production and evidence of documents kept by registrar.
(1) Any person may—
(a) inspect the documents kept by the registrar of companies, on payment of such fee as may be appointed by the Board of Trade, not exceeding one shilling for each inspection;
(b) require a certificate of the incorporation of any company, or a copy or extract of any other document or any part of any other document, to be certified by the registrar, on payment for the certificate, certified copy or extract of such fees as the Board of Trade may appoint, not exceeding five shillings for a certificate of incorporation and not exceeding sixpence for each folio of a certified copy or extract:
Provided that,—
(i) in relation to documents delivered to the registrar with a prospectus in pursuance of sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section forty-one of this Act, the rights conferred by this subsection shall be exercisable only during the fourteen days, beginning with the date of publication of the prospectus or with the permission of the Board of Trade, and in relation to documents so delivered in pursuance of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section four hundred and twenty of this Act the said rights shall be exercisable only during the fourteen days beginning with the date of the prospectus or with the permission of the Board of Trade; and
(ii) the right conferred by paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not extend to any copy sent to the registrar under section three hundred and seventy-two of this Act of a statement as to the affairs of a company or of any comments of the receiver or his successor or a continuing receiver or manager thereon, but only to the summary thereof, except where the person claiming the right either is or is the agent of a person stating himself in writing to be a member or creditor of the company to which the statement relates, and the right conferred by paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be similarly limited.
(2) No process for compelling the production of any document kept by the registrar shall issue from any court except with the leave of that court, and any such process if issued shall bear thereon a statement that it is issued with the leave of the court.
(3) A copy of, or extract from, any document kept and registered at any of the offices for the registration of companies in England or Scotland, certified to be a true copy under the hand of the registrar (whose official position it shall not be necessary to prove), shall in all legal proceedings be admissible in evidence as of equal validity with the original document.
(4) Any person untruthfully stating himself in writing for the purposes of proviso (ii) to subsection (1) of this section to be a member or creditor of a company shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(5) In the application of this section to Scotland, as in its application to England, a folio shall be deemed to consist of seventy-two words.
427 Power of registrar in England to direct removal of documents to Public Record Office.
(1) Where a company has been dissolved, whether under this Act or otherwise, the registrar may, at any time after the expiration of two years from the date of the dissolution, direct that any documents in his custody relating to that company may be removed to the Public Record Office, and documents in respect of which any such direction is given shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Public Record Office Acts, 1838 to 1898, and the rules made thereunder.
(2) In this section the expression “company ” includes a company provisionally or completely registered under the Act 7 and 8 Victoria chapter one hundred and ten.
(3) This section shall not extend to Scotland.
428 Enforcement of duty of company to make returns to registrar.
(1) If a company, having made default in complying with any provision of this Act which requires it to file with, deliver or send to the registrar of companies any return, account or other document, or to give notice to him of any matter, fails to make good the default within fourteen days after the service of a notice on the company requiring it to do so, the court may, on an application made to the court by any member or creditor of the company or by the registrar of companies, make an order directing the company, anct any officer thereof to make good the default within such time as may be specified in the order.
(2) Any such order may provide that all costs of and incidental to the application shall be borne by the company or by any officers of the company responsible for the default.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice the operation of any enactment imposing penalties on a company or its officers in respect of any such default as aforesaid.
429 Prohibition of banking partnerships with more than ten members.
No company, association or partnership consisting of more than ten persons shall be formed for the purpose of carrying on the business of banking, unless it is registered as a company under this Act, or is formed in pursuance of some other Act of Parliament, or of letters patent.
430 On registration of banking company with limited liability, notice to be given to customers.
(1) Where a banking company which was in existence on the seventh day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, proposes to register as a limited company, it shall, at least thirty days before so registering, give notice of its intention so to register to every person who has a banking account with the company, either by delivery of the notice to him, or by posting it to him at, or delivering it at, his last known address.
(2) If the company omits to give, the notice required by this section, then, as between the company and the person for the time being interested in the account in respect of which the notice ought to have been given, and so far as respects the account down to the time at which notice is given, but not further or otherwise, the certificate of registration with limited liability shall have no operation.
431 Liability of bank of issue unlimited in respect of notes.
(1) A bank of issue registered under this Act as a limited company shall not be entitled to limited liability in respect of its notes, and the members thereof shall be liable in respect of its notes in the same manner as if it had been registered as unlimited:
Provided that, if, in the event of the company being wound up, the general assets are insufficient to satisfy the claims of both the note-holders and the general creditors, then the members, after satisfying the remaining demands of the note-holders, shall be liable to contribute towards payment of the debts of the general creditors a sum equal to the amount received by the note-holders out of the general assets.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the expression “the general assets ” means the funds available for payment of the general creditor as well as the note-holder.
(3) Any bank of issue registered under this Act as a limited Company may state on its notes that the limited liability does not extend to its notes, and that the members of the company are liable in respect of its notes in the same manner as if it had been registered as an unlimited company.
(1) Where a company carrying on the business of bankers has duly forwarded to the registrar of companies the annual return required by section one hundred and twenty-four of this Act and has added thereto a statement of the names of the several places where it carries on business, the company—
(a) shall not be required to furnish to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue any returns under the provisions of the Country Bankers Act, 1826, the Bankers (Scotland) Act, 1826, section twenty-one of the Bank Charter Act, 1844, or section thirteen of the Bank Notes (Scotland) Act, 1845; and
(b) shall be deemed to be a “bank ” and “bankers ” within the meaning of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879.
(2) The fact of the said annual return and statement having been duly forwarded may be proved in any legal proceedings by. the certificate of the registrar.
433 Banking and certain other companies to publish periodical statement.
(1) Every company, being a limited banking company or an insurance company or a deposit, provident, or benefit society, shall, before it commences business, and also on the first Monday in February and the first Tuesday in August in every year during which it carries on business, make a statement in the form set out in the Thirteenth Schedule to this Act, or as near thereto as circumstances admit.
(2) A copy of the statement shall be put up in a conspicuous place in the registered office of the company, and in every branch office or place where the business of the company is carried on.
(3) Every member and every creditor of the company shall be entitled to a copy of the statement, on payment of a sum not exceeding sixpence.
(4) If default is made in complying with this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.
(5) For the purposes of this Act a company which carries on the business of insurance in common with any other business or businesses shall be deemed to be an insurance company.
(6) This section shall not apply to any assurance company to which the provisions of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as to the accounts and balance sheet to be prepared annually and deposited by such a company apply, if the company complies with those provisions.
434 Prohibition of partnerships with more than twenty members.
(1) No company, association, or partnership consisting of more than twenty persons shall be formed for the purpose of carrying on any business (other than the business of banking) that has for its object the acquisition of gain by the company, association, or partnership, or by the individual members thereof, unless it is registered as a company under this Act, or is formed in pursuance of some other Act of Parliament, or of letters patent, or is a company engaged in working mines within the stannaries and subject to the jurisdiction of the court exercising the stannaries jurisdiction.
(2) This section shall not apply in relation to any body of persons for the time being approved for the purposes of Part I of the War Risks Insurance Act, 1939, by the Minister of Transport, being a body the objects of which are or include the carrying on of business by way of the re-insurance of risks which may be re-insured under any agreement for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section one of that Act.
435 Application of certain provisions of this Act to unregistered companies.
(1) The provisions of this Act specified in the second column of the Fourteenth Schedule to this Act (which respectively relate to the matters referred to in the first column of that Schedule) shall apply to all bodies corporate incorporated in and having a principal place of business in Great Britain, other than those mentioned in the next following subsection, as if they were companies registered under this Act, but subject to any limitations mentioned in relation to those provisions respectively in the third column of that Schedule and to such adaptations and modifications (if any) as may be specified by regulations made by the Board Of Trade.
(2) The said provisions shall not apply by virtue of this section to any of the following, that is to say:—
(a) any body incorporated by or registered under any public general Act of Parliament; and
(b) any body not formed for the purpose of carrying on a business which has for its object the acquisition of gain by the body or by the individual members thereof; and
(c) any body for the time being exempted by direction of the Board of Trade.
(3) The said provisions shall apply also in like manner in relation to any unincorporated body of persons entitled by virtue of letters patent to any of the privileges conferred by the Chartered Companies Act, 1837, and not registered under any other public general Act of Parliament, but subject to the like exceptions as are provided for in the case of bodies corporate by paragraphs (b) and (c) of the last foregoing subsection.
(4) This section shall not repeal or revoke in whole or in part any enactment, royal charter or other instrument constituting or regulating any body in relation to which the said provisions are applied by virtue of this section, or restrict the power of His Majesty to grant a charter in lieu of or supplementary to any such charter as aforesaid; but, in relation to any such body, the operation of any such enactment, charter or instrument shall be suspended in so far as it is inconsistent with any of the said provisions as they apply for the time being to that body.
(5) The powers to make regulations conferred by this section and the Fourteenth Schedule to this Act on the Board of Trade shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) Any register, index, minute book or book of account required by this Act to be kept by a company may be kept either by making entries in bound books or by recording the matters in question in any other manner.
(2) Where any such register, index, minute book or book of account is not kept by making entries in a bound book, but by some other means, adequate precautions shall be taken for guarding against falsification and facilitating its discovery, and where default is made in complying with this subsection, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and further shall be liable to a default fine.
(1) A document may be served on a company by leaving it at or sending it by post to the registered office of the company.
(2) Where a company registered in Scotland carries on business in England, the process of any court in England may be served on the company by leaving it at or sending it by post to the principal place of business of the company in England, addressed to the manager or other head officer in England of the company.
(3) Where process is served on a company under subsection (2) of this section the person issuing out the process shall send a copy thereof by post to the registered office of the company.
If any person in any return, report, certificate, balance sheet, or other document, required by or for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act specified in the Fifteenth Schedule hereto, wilfully makes a statement false in any material particular, knowing it to be false, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable on conviction in Scotland on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and be liable on summary conviction in England or Scotland to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four months, with or without hard labour, and in either case to a fine in lieu of or in addition to such imprisonment as aforesaid:
Provided that—
(a) the fine imposed on summary conviction shall not exceed one hundred pounds;
(b) nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of the Perjury Act, 1911, or the False Oaths (Scotland) Act, 1933.
If any person or persons trade or carry on business under any name or title of which “limited ”, or any contraction or imitation of that word, is the last word, that person or those persons shall, unless duly incorporated with limited liability, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day upon which that name or title has been used.