Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. A239B: "Page 388, line 13, leave out subsection (4)." The noble Baroness said: This amendment is probing in nature and would delete subsection (4). It has been suggested by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Clause 818 allows the Secretary of State to approve overseas qualifications so that a foreign-qualified auditor can operate as an auditor in the United Kingdom. But the Bill changes the formulation relating to overseas qualifications from the one that currently appears in Section 33 of the Companies Act 1989. My amendment is designed to seek clarification of the Government’s intentions. This relates to the reciprocity of how our own approved auditors are treated in the overseas country concerned. Under the 1989 Act the Secretary of State’s power to recognise an overseas qualification is exercised ““having regard to the extent”” to which those qualified to audit in the UK are recognised by the law of the particular overseas country as qualified to audit accounts there. Hence the Secretary of State, in approving a qualification from, say, Australia, would have to have to regard to the extent to which UK accountants are allowed to audit in Australia. Under the new formulation set out in subsection (4), the Secretary of State has to be satisfied that the resulting treatment is comparable. The amendment invites the Government to state whether there is any policy change intended from that currently operated. Will the Minister say something about what will allow the Secretary of State to be ““satisfied”” about reciprocity? Will those countries that are already recognised under the 1989 Act automatically be recognised under this Bill when it becomes law? How many overseas qualifications are still under the process of evaluation under the 1989 Act, and how they will be affected? In relation to the US, is the AICPA qualification recognised under the 1989 Act and will it qualify for recognition under the Bill? I beg to move.