Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 93:"Page 38, line 17, leave out ““the authorised minimum”” and insert ““£100,000””" The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 94. The amendments concern the size of the capital that should be deposited ab initio in a public company. Clause 91 sets out the requirement that companies must meet in order to re-register as a public company. The nominal value of the company’s allotted share capital must be not less than the authorised minimum—currently £50,000—of which only a quarter of the nominal value must be paid up. That could mean that to re-register as a public company, with all that that implies in the public mind, the paid-up value on shares need be only £12,500—a quarter of £50,000. That is hardly what is brought to mind when one thinks of a public company. The amendment seeks to test the Government’s thinking on this matter and would raise the nominal value of the share capital to £100,000, of which three-quarters must be paid up. That would go some way to ensuring that companies that wish to be viewed by potential customers, suppliers, employees and investors as large and trustworthy have some substance with a minimum of £75,000. I beg to move.