Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977

29Recovery of assets transferred away

(1)In any case where

(a)it appears to the Secretary of State that a company which comes into public ownership or an excluded company or a company which on the relevant vesting date is a wholly owned subsidiary of an excluded company has, at any time after the initial date and before the date of transfer, entered into any transaction which—

(i)transferred or granted to any person, other than a company which comes into public ownership, any rights of ownership in any works or rights in respect of the user of any works, or

(ii)transferred or granted any industrial or intellectual property to any such person, and

(b)the transfer or grant has not been approved in writing for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State (whether before or after the date of the transfer or grant), and

(c)it appears to the Secretary of State that it is necessary, for the purpose of enabling one of the Corporations fully to carry out its functions under this Act, that the rights or property so transferred or granted, or any rights derived from those rights or that property should vest in or be surrendered to that Corporation or to a company which comes into public ownership,

he may authorise the Corporation to serve on any person entitled to the rights or property in question a notice (in this Act referred to as a “Schedule 4 notice ”) stating that Schedule 4 below applies to rights or property specified in the notice.

(2)A Schedule 4 notice may be served at any time within the period of 3 months beginning on the date of transfer.

(3)Subject to subsection (4) below, subsection (1) above shall apply in relation to a transaction entered into by a company (in the following provisions of this section referred to as “the former subsidiary ”) which—

(a)was on the initial date the wholly owned subsidiary of an acquired company or an excluded company (in the following provisions of this section referred to as “the parent company ”), and

(b)ceased to be such a subsidiary before the date of transfer of the parent company,

as if the first reference in paragraph (a) of that subsection to a company which comes into public ownership were a reference to the former subsidiary and as if, in relation to the former subsidiary, the reference to the date of transfer were a reference to the date which is the date of transfer in relation to the parent company.

(4)In any case where, after the date of transfer of the parent company, the former subsidiary comes into public ownership by virtue of section 26 above, nothing in subsection (3) above shall affect the operation of subsection (1) above in relation to a transaction entered into by the former subsidiary after the date of transfer of the parent company but before the date of transfer of the former subsidiary.

(5)An approval given under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above may be given subject to conditions, including conditions enabling the Corporation concerned to require the transfer, surrender or grant of rights in respect of the works, or property in question to the Corporation or to a company which comes into public ownership.

(6)In any case where—

(a)consequentially on the service of a notice under section 27 above, the securities of a company do not vest in a Corporation, and

(b)the grounds for the service of that notice were those specified in subsection (2)(a)(ii) or (iii) of that section, and

(c)any such property or rights as are specified in subsection (1)(a)(i) or (ii) above remain vested in the company or have become vested in a receiver,

subsection (1) above, with the omission of paragraph (b), shall apply as if the property or rights had been transferred or granted as mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

(7)Any person on whom a Schedule 4 notice has been served may, within the period of 3 months beginning on the date of service of that notice, serve a notice on the Corporation concerned contending that the circumstances stated in the Schedule 4 notice as having appeared to the Secretary of State in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above do not exist or, where the Schedule 4 notice was served by virtue of subsection (6) above, that any one or more of the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of that subsection is or are not fulfilled, and the notice shall set out the grounds of that contention.

(8)Where a notice is served on a Corporation under subsection (7) above, and neither that notice nor the Schedule 4 notice is withdrawn, the question whether the circumstances referred to in that subsection exist or whether the condition or conditions referred to in that subsection is or are fulfilled shall be determined by arbitration under this Act; and on any such arbitration the arbitration tribunal shall, if they are satisfied that the contention of the person who served the notice under that subsection is correct, revoke the Schedule 4 notice, but shall otherwise confirm it.

(9)Where a Schedule 4 notice is served and is not withdrawn or revoked, Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect.

(10)In relation to an excluded company or a company which on the relevant date is a subsidiary of an excluded company, references in this section and Schedule 4 to this Act to the date of transfer shall be construed as references to the relevant vesting date.