Clause 113
Company Law Reform Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Margaret Hodge (Minister of State (Industry and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Barking, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the clause differs from the existing provision in that it refers to where the register is kept available for inspection, rather than simply where it is kept. That is because where electronic registers are kept is debatable, and they may be updated from various locations; what matters is where they are kept available for inspection. We hope that the new formulation will remove any difficulty that might have arisen when, for example, a company with its registered office in Scotland employed a commercial registrar in England.
However, because the courts of a country in which a public register is kept have exclusive jurisdiction over entries in that register, it is essential that the jurisdiction in which a company’s register of members is kept available for inspection is not subject to change, as it would be if the amendment were agreed. I was slightly puzzled by the hon. Gentleman’s contribution in that respect. The jurisdiction over a company’s registered office is fixed on the company’s incorporation, and clearly that jurisdiction’s courts should always apply to its register of members.
I hope that that reply has alleviated the hon. Gentleman’s concerns, and that he will withdraw the amendment.