Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I am extremely grateful to the Minister for that full response. I am particularly grateful for his acknowledgement that, wherever possible, the terms should match up. The greater the difference in terms, the more difficulties we are likely to have. I accept that the Companies Act and the Financial Services and Markets Act are different and have different objectives. However, when you are talking about the prohibition of public offers by private companies—which is what we are discussing at the moment—they come very close indeed because you are running parallel with a company that is coming into contact with the financial markets. While I accept the point, I am not sure that this section of the Bill is the one area where the definitions collide or should collide. The Minister has said a great deal and I am grateful for that. I had better read what he said—I shall not try to respond to it now—and when we have thought about it and taken expert advice, we may wish to come back and tackle the matter again. The Minister said the Financial Services and Markets Act is about protecting the unwary; so must this be about protecting the unwary. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.