Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 48:"Page 47, line 4, leave out paragraph (b)." The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 48, I shall also speak to Amendments Nos. 49 and 55. In considering whether it was necessary to have separate statements of initial shareholdings and share capital on formation, we looked again at the requirement, presently in Clause 106 of the Bill, for these statements to be provided to the registrar where an unlimited company that has not previously had a share capital applies to reregister as a company that is to be limited by shares. We have concluded that the requirement for these statements in Clause 106 is superfluous as subsequent to its reregistration as limited, the company is required, under Clause 544, to make a return of allotments when it allots shares to its shareholders and this return must be accompanied by a statement of capital. In short, there appears to be a duplication of the requirement to file a statement of capital in Clause 106 and the amendments in this group remove that duplication. I should add that the Government are considering whether there are any circumstances where an unlimited company should provide a statement of capital on reregistration. We may need to return to this at Third Reading. On Question, amendment agreed to.