Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 1998

The Companies (Inspection and Copying of Registers, Indices and Documents) Regulations 1991

---

© Crown Copyright 1991

Statutory Instruments printed from this website are printed under the superintendence and authority of the Controller of HMSO being the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament.

The legislation contained on this web site is subject to Crown Copyright protection. It may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users.

It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Instruments does not extend to the Queen's Printer imprints which should be removed from any copies of the Statutory Instrument which are issued or made available to the public. This includes reproduction of the Statutory Instrument on the Internet and on intranet sites. The Royal Arms may be reproduced only where they are an integral part of the original document.

The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. A print version is also available and is published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The Companies (Inspection and Copying of Registers, Indices and Documents) Regulations 1991, ISBN 011014998X. The print version may be purchased by clicking here. Braille copies of this Statutory Instrument can also be purchased at the same price as the print edition by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0870 600 5522 or e-mail:customer.services@tso.co.uk.

Further information about the publication of legislation on this website can be found by referring to the Frequently Asked Questions.

To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

1991 No. 1998

COMPANIES

The Companies (Inspection and Copying of Registers, Indices and Documents) Regulations 1991

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 723A of the Companies Act 1985^[1], the provisions of the Companies Act 1985 listed in Schedule 1 to these Regulations and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement
    1.    These Regulations may be cited as the Companies (Inspection and Copying of Registers, Indices and Documents) Regulations 1991 and shall come into force on 1st November 1991.

Interpretation
    2.    In these Regulations:
"the Act" means the Companies Act 1985;


"business day" means, in relation to a company subject to any provision of these Regulations, any day except a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday and any other day which is a bank holiday in the part of Great Britain where that company is registered (or in the case of a company that is a body corporate to which section 723A of the Act is applied by section 718 thereof, the part of Great Britain where its principal office was situated on 5th January 1976 or if it was incorporated after that date, the part of Great Britain where its principal office was situated immediately after incorporation); and


"company" includes a body corporate to which section 723A of the Act is applied by any enactment^[2].

Inspection
    3.—(1)  This Regulation applies to an obligation to make a register, index or document available for inspection imposed on a company by sections 169(5) (contract for purchase by company of its own shares), 175(6) (statutory declaration and auditors' report relating to payment out of capital), 191(1) (register of debenture holders), 219(1) (register of interests in shares & c), 288(3) (register of directors and secretaries), 318(7) (directors' service contracts), 356(1) (register and index of members) and 383(1) (minute books) of the Act, as well as to section 325 of, and paragraph 25 of Part IV of Schedule 13 to, the Act (register of directors' interests).

    (2)  The company shall:
 (a) make the register, index or document available for such inspection for not less than two hours during the period between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on each business day; and
 (b) permit a person inspecting the register, index or document to copy any information made available for inspection by means of the taking of notes or the transcription of the information.

    (3)  Paragraph (2)(b) shall not be construed as obliging a company to provide any facilities additional to those provided for the purposes of facilitating inspection.

Registers of members and debenture holders: presentation and extraction of entries
    4.—(1)  This Regulation applies to a company's register of members maintained under section 352 of the Act, to an index of the names of the company's members maintained under section 354 thereof and to a register of debenture holders maintained under section 190 thereof.

    (2)  A company is not obliged:
 (a) by virtue of section 356(1) of the Act to present for inspection its register of members or an index of members' names; or
 (b) by virtue of section 191(1) of the Act to present for inspection a register of debenture holders maintained by it,
in a manner which groups together entries by reference to whether a member or (as the case may be) a debenture holder has given an address in a particular geographical location, is of a particular nationality, has a holding of a certain size, is a natural person or not or is of a particular gender.

    (3)  Nor is a company obliged:
 (a) by virtue of section 356(3) of the Act, in providing a copy of a part of its register of members; or
 (b) by virtue of section 191(2) of the Act, in providing a copy of a part of a register of debenture holders,
to extract entries from the register by reference to whether a member or (as the case may be) a debenture holder has given an address in a particular geographical location, is of a particular nationality, has a holding of a certain size, is a natural person or not or is of a particular gender.

Fees
    5.    Schedule 2 to these Regulations prescribes the fees payable for the purposes of the provisions of the Act listed therein.

John Redwood

Minister for Corporate Affairs, Department of Trade and Industry

2nd September 1991

[1] 1985 c. 6, as inserted by section 143 of the Companies Act 1989 (c. 40). back

[2] Section 723A is applied to companies registered under section 680 of the Act by section 689 of, and Schedule 21 to, the Act and to certain unregistered companies by the provisions of section 718 of, and Schedule 22 to, the Act. back

Explanatory Note