Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. A239A: "Page 496, line 3, leave out ““undertakings given by them and””" The noble Baroness said: Amendment No. 239A was also suggested to us by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. It amends paragraph 9 of Schedule 11 which deals with the practical training component of recognised professional qualifications. In a normal case, the three years of practical training has to be spent on statutory audit work and, under sub-paragraph (2), that can include overseas audit work, provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that it is similar to that in the UK. So far, so good. The problem comes when we get to sub-paragraph (3), which states: "““The training must be given by persons approved by the body offering the professional qualification . . . in the light of undertakings given by them and the supervision to which they are subject””." As I understand it, the problem comes from the requirement for there to be direct undertakings since, by definition, the persons concerned are not in the UK and are not in a direct relationship with the recognised qualifying body. Amendment No. 239A removes the requirement for these undertaking to be given so that the qualifying body can rest on the supervision that applies to the individuals. This paragraph is repeated from the 1989 Act, but it does not sound practical: I wonder whether, in fact, the undertakings have been obtained. I have no briefing on that. I hope that the Minister will agree that it would be sufficient for a recognised qualifying body to rest on the supervision arrangements for auditors in other counties if they are to be involved in training UK auditors. If that is not the case, it may be difficult in practice to allow overseas experience, which seems to run counter to the needs of global business. I beg to move.