Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 101:"After Clause 186, insert the following new clause—" ““EXCEPTION FOR EXPENDITURE IN CONNECTION WITH REGULATORY ACTION OR INVESTIGATION Approval is not required under section 180 or 182 (requirement of members’ approval for loans etc) for anything done by a company— (a)   to provide a director of the company or of its holding company with funds to meet expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him in defending himself— (i)   in an investigation by a regulatory authority, or (ii)   against action proposed to be taken by a regulatory authority, in connection with any alleged negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust by him in relation to the company, or (b)   to enable any such director to avoid incurring such expenditure.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, this clause creates a specific exception from the requirement for member approval imposed by Clauses 180 and 182 for anything done by a company to provide its directors with funds to defend regulatory action or investigations. It has always been our view that such matters are covered by the exception in Clause 186. But we have listened sympathetically to the strong views expressed in Grand Committee that it would be helpful to deal with this matter more clearly on the face of the Bill. I beg to move.