Company Law Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. A73E:"Page 272, line 27, leave out ““twelve”” and insert ““six””" The noble Lord said: In moving Amendment No. A73E, I shall speak also to Amendment No. A73G, which are both amendments to Clause 565, on financial assistance by a company for the acquisition of shares. The amendments are concerned with the penalties for individuals found guilty of an offence under the clause. In short, the amendments are designed to draw attention to the difference between the position in England and Wales and that in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The matter has been raised by a firm of lawyers in the City. The clause provides amendments to Chapter 6 of Part 5 of the Companies Act 1985. New Section 151 lays out a criminal offence for contravening that section’s provisions, as does new Section 151A in relation to its provisions. A person found guilty of either of those offences may be imprisoned or fined, or both. However—and here we come to the heart of the amendments—the maximum term of imprisonment in England and Wales on conviction for the offence is 12 months, yet for a person found guilty in Scotland for the same offence the maximum term is limited to six months. As I have often said, I am no lawyer, and I suspect that the Minister will reply in the vein that this is an insurmountable obstacle because of the differences between the two legal jurisdictions. We have discussed—and the Minister has told us—that the Bill is supposed to create a uniform company law system for the entire United Kingdom, but here we have a good example of where that is not the case. I cannot see any reason why the maximum term in England and Wales could not be reduced to be commensurate with that in Scotland. That would not break any rules about the sentencing procedure in Scotland, as that would remain unchanged. Nor would it to my knowledge impinge on sentencing in the magistrates’ courts in England and Wales if there were to be a reduction in the maximum sentence to six months. The amendments would make that change and thus synchronise the penalties that an offender could face in either of those jurisdictions. I beg to move.