Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 429:"Leave out Clause 576." The noble Lord said: My Lords, Amendments Nos. 429 to 431 in this group are required to achieve consistency with the approach taken elsewhere in the Bill with regard to the replacement of the current requirement for a statutory declaration with a requirement for a simple statement by the directors. They replace various references, currently in Sections 172 to 179 of the 1985 Act—which relate to the purchase or redemption of shares by a private company out of capital—to ““statutory declaration”” or ““declaration”” with references to ““directors’ statement”” or ““statement””. Amendment No. 432 is consequential on Amendment No. 429. It simply restates existing subsection (3) of Clause 576 which deals with the requirements as to notice where a company makes a payment out of capital in respect of a purchase or redemption of its own shares. Amendment No. 488 brings two offences which are still extant in the 1985 Act and which relate to a purchase or redemption of own shares out of capital into Schedule 4 of the Bill. These offences are currently set out in Schedule 24 to the 1985 Act—which is to be repealed. These are minor amendments which improve the drafting of the Bill and I trust that noble Lords will have no objections to them. On Question, amendment agreed to.