Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Lord Chairman for that protection. As I was explaining, by raising the barrier on the test that would make it harder for companies to threaten small shareholders effectively with picking up costs if they lost, Amendment No. 334F goes further and deletes subsection (6) and with it the possibility that shareholders could end up paying the company’s costs at all. I fully understand that there is a balance to be struck between the company, which does not want to be exposed to vexatious website activity, and creating a natural outlet for shareholder activism when shareholders have reasonable concerns that should be aired. We think that the balance is not quite right in the Bill. I hope the Minister will look again at this area and look on these amendments favourably. I beg to move.