Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

Clause 857 restates Section 53 of the 1989 Act with a few minor changes. The terms used in Part 33 of the Bill are, on the whole, specific to the regulation of statutory auditors rather than companies. There are some terms which are not defined elsewhere in the Bill and, as has been recognised, there are some which are defined elsewhere but have a slightly different definition for the purposes of Part 33. It is true that some terms have a common meaning in Part 33 and Part 29. However, on the whole, we think there are more differences than common points. That is why we have preferred the drafting approach of defining terms separately for Part 33. As for the issue of Clause 766, they do not apply because Part 33 is not part of the Companies Act as defined in Clause 2.