UK lords to provide new test for company law reform
November 02, 2006
Leading British busi-ness groups have failed to secure a last-minute change to a far-reaching new companies' bill requiring more disclosure about key suppliers.
The setback means a debate this week in the House of Lords, the highest court in England, will become the latest backdrop in a row between business and government over regulatory burden.
The bill, the biggest overhaul of United Kingdom company law in decades with nearly 1,000 clauses and several hundred amendments, has upset business groups with a recent amendment requiring disclosure of information about supply chains and contracts.
Leaders of the Confederation of British Industry, (CBI) the Institute of Directors and the Quoted Companies Alliance met Industry Minister Margaret Hodge on Monday to seek a change.
"It is clear that the government will not withdraw this amendment," said the Confed-eration of British Industry's Deputy Director General John Cridland on Tuesday.
He added that an "appreciable risk" now remains for business, so companies would have to call on lawyers to chart their way through the reform of British company law.
After the meeting, the govern-ment pledged to clarify its position through statements from Britain's Lord Sainsbury, the minister in charge of the bill in the House of Lords, when law lords debate the bill on Thursday.
Once passed by the law lords, the bill needs only a royal ascent before becoming law, sometime in 2008.
Clause 423 of the bill requires directors in their business review to include information on people with whom the company has a contractual or other arrangement essential to its business.
The wording has been inter-preted by business groups as requiring listed firms to name businesses in their supply chains and detail the nature of their contractual relations.
The government has said it will remain up to businesses to decide what they reveal.
"On the issue of the business review we took into account the views of organisations such as the CBI and many other interested parties," said a spokeswoman for the Department of Trade (DTI) and Industry yesterday....
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
