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Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908

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PART IIDistribution and Reduction of Share Capital, Registration of Unlimited Company as Limited, and Unlimited Liability of Directors.

Distribution of Share Capital.

22Nature of shares.

(1)The shares or other interest of any member in a company shall be personal estate, transferable in manner provided by the articles of the company, and shall not be of the nature of real estate.

(2)Each share in a company having a share capital shall be distinguished by its appropriate number.

23Certificate of shares or stock.

A certificate, under the common seal of the company, specifying any shares or stock held by any member, shall be prima facie evidence of the title of the member to the shares or stock.

24Definition of member.

(1)The subscribers of the memorandum of a company shall be- deemed to have agreed to become members of the company, and on its registration shall be entered as members in its register of members.

(2)Every other person who agrees to become a member of a company, and whose name is entered in its register of members, shall be a member of the company.

25Register of members.

(1)Every company shall keep in one or more books a register of its members, and enter therein the following particulars :—

(i)The names and addresses, and the occupations, if any, of the members, and in the case of a company having a share capital a statement of the shares held by each member, distinguishing each share by its number, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid on the shares of each member ;

(ii)The date at which each person was entered in the register as a member ;

(iii)The date at which any person ceased to be a member.

(2)If a company fails to comply with this section it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the default continues; and every director and manager of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises, or permits the default shall be liable to the like penalty.

26Annual list of members and summary.

(1)Every company having a share capital shall once at least in every year make a list of all persons who, on the fourteenth day after the first or only ordinary general meeting in the year, are members of the company, and of all,persons who have ceased to be members since the date of the last return or (in the case of the first return) of the incorporation of the company.

(2)The list must state the names, addresses, and occupations of all the past and present members therein mentioned, and the number of shares held by each of the existing members at the date of the return, specifying shares transferred since the date of the last return or (in the case of the first return) of the incorporation of the company by persons who are still members and have ceased to be members respectively and the dates of registration of the transfers, and must contain a summary distinguishing between shares issued for cash and shares issued as fully or partly paid up otherwise than in cash, and specifying the following particulars :—

(a)The amount of the share capital of the company, and the number of the shares into which it is divided;

(b)The. number of shares taken from the commencement of the company up to the date of the return;

(c)The amount called up on each share ;

(d)The total amount of calls received ;

(e)The total amount of calls unpaid;

(f)The total amount of the sums (if any) paid by way of commission in respect of any shares or debentures, or allowed by way of discount in respect of any debentures, since the date of the last return;

(g)The total number of shares forfeited ;

(h)The total amount of shares or stock for which share warrants are outstanding at the date of the return ;

(i)The total amount of share warrants issued and surrendered respectively since the date of the last return ;

(k)The number of shares or amount of stock comprised in each share warrant;

(l)The names and addresses of the persons who at the date of the return are the directors of the company, or occupy the position of directors, by whatever name called; and

(m)The total amount of debt due from the company in respect of all mortgages and charges which are required (or, in the case of a company registered in Scotland, which, if the company had been registered in England, would be required) to be registered with the registrar of companies under this Act, or which would have been required so to be registered if created after the first day of July nineteen hundred and eight.

(3)The summary must also (except where the company is a private company) include a statement, made up to such date as may be specified in the statement, in the form of a balance sheet, audited by the company's auditors, and containing a summary of its share capital, its liabilities, and its assets, giving such particulars as will disclose the general nature of those liabilities and assets, and how the values of the fixed assets have been arrived at, but the balance sheet need not include a statement of profit and loss.

(4)The above list and summary must be contained in a separate part of the register of members, and must be completed within seven days after the fourteenth day aforesaid, and the company must forthwith forward to the registrar of companies a copy signed by the manager or by the secretary of the company.

(5)If a company makes default in complying with the requirements of this section it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the default continues, and every director and manager of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default shall be liable to the like penalty.

27Trusts not to be entered on register.

No notice of any trust, expressed, implied, or constructive, shall be entered on the register, or be receivable by the registrar, in the case of companies registered in England or Ireland.

28Registration of transfer at request of transferor.

On the application of the transferor of any share or interest in a company, the company shall enter in its register of members the name of the transferee in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as if the application for the entry-were made by the transferee.

29Transfer by personal representative.

A transfer of the share or other interest of a deceased member of a company made by his personal representative shall, although the personal representative is not himself a member, be as valid as if he had been a member at the time of the execution of the instrument of transfer.

30Inspection of register of members.

(1)The register of members, commencing from the date of the registration of the company, shall be kept at the registered office of the company, and, except when closed under the provisions of this Act, shall during business hours (subject to such reasonable restrictions as the company in general meeting may impose, so that not less than two hours in each day be allowed for inspection) be open to the inspection of any member gratis, and to the inspection of any other person on payment of one shilling, or such less sum as the company may prescribe, for each inspection.

(2)Any member or other person may require a copy of the register, or of any part thereof, or of the list and summary required by this Act, or any part thereof, on payment of sixpence, or such less sum as the company may prescribe, for every hundred words or fractional part thereof required to be copied.

(3)If any inspection or copy required under this section is refused, the company shall be liable for each refusal to a fine not exceeding two pounds, and to a further fine not exceeding two pounds for every day during which the refusal continues, and every director and manager of the company who knowingly authorises or permits the refusal shall be liable to the like penalty ; and, as respects companies registered in England or Ireland, any judge of the High Court, or the judge of the court exercising the stannaries jurisdiction in the case of companies subject to that jurisdiction, may by order compel an immediate inspection of the register.

31Power to close register.

A company may, on giving notice by advertisement in some newspaper circulating in the district in which the registered office of the company is situate, close the register of members for any time or times not exceeding in the whole thirty days in each year.

32Power of court to rectify register.

(1)If—

(a)the name of any person is, without sufficient cause, entered in or omitted from the register of members of a company ; or

(b)default is made or unnecessary delay takes place in entering on the register the fact of any person having ceased to be a member,

the person aggrieved, or any member of the company, or the company, may apply to the court for rectification of the register.

(2)The application may be made, as respects companies registered' in England or Ireland, by motion in the High Court, or by application to a judge of the High Court sitting in chambers, or by application to the judge of the court exercising the stannaries jurisdiction in the case of companies subject to that jurisdiction, and, as respects companies registered in Scotland, by summary petition to the Court of Session, or in such other manner as the said courts may respectively direct; and the court may either refuse the application, or may order rectification of the register, and payment by the company of any damages sustained by any party aggrieved.

(3)On any application under this section the court may. decide any question relating to the title of any person who is a party to the application to have his name entered in or omitted from the register, whether the question arises between members, or alleged members, or between members or alleged members on the one hand and the company on the other hand ; and generally may decide any question necessary or expedient to be decided; for rectification of the register.

(4)In the case of a company required by this Act to send a list of its members to the registrar of companies, the court, when, making an order for rectification of the register, shall by its order direct notice of the rectification to be given to the registrar.

33Register to be evidence.

The register of members shall be prima facie evidence of any matters by this Act directed or authorised to be inserted therein.

34Power for company to keep colonial register.

(1)A company having a share capital, whose objects comprise the transaction of business in a colony, may, if so authorised by its articles, cause to be kept in any colony in which it transacts business a branch register of members resident in that colony (in this Act called a colonial register).

(2)The company shall give to the registrar of companies notice of the situation of the office where any colonial register is kept, and of any change in. its situation, and of the discontinuance of the office in the event of its being discontinued.

(3)For the purpose of the provisions of this Act relating to colonial registers the term “colony” includes British India and the Commonwealth of Australia.

35Regulations as to colonial register.

(1)A colonial register shall be deemed to be part of the company's register of members (in this and the next following section called the principal register).

(2)It shall be kept in the same manner in which the principal register is by this Act required to be kept, except that the advertisement before closing the register shall be inserted in some newspaper circulating in the district wherein the colonial register is kept, and that any competent court in the colony may exercise the same jurisdiction of rectifying the register as is under this Act exerciseable by the High Court, and that the offences of refusing inspection or copies of a colonial register, and of authorising or permitting the refusal may he prosecuted summarily before any tribunal in the colony having summary criminal jurisdiction.

(3)The company shall transmit to its registered office a copy of every entry in its colonial register as soon as may be after the entry is made ; and shall cause to be kept at its registered office, duly entered up from time to time, a duplicate of its colonial register, and the duplicate shall, for all the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be part of the principal register,

(4)Subject to the provisions of this section with respect to the duplicate register, the shares registered in a colonial register shall be distinguished from the shares registered in the principal register, and no transaction with respect to any shares registered in a colonial register shall, during the continuance of that registration, be registered in any other register.

(5)The company may discontinue to keep any colonial register, and thereupon all entries in that register shall be transferred to some other colonial register kept by the company in the same colony, or to the principal register.

(6)Subject to the provisions of this Act, any .company may, by its articles, make such provisions as it may think fit respecting the keeping of colonial registers.

36Stamp duties in case of shares registered in colonial registers.

In relation to stamp duties the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a)An instrument of transfer of a share registered in a colonial register shall be deemed to be a transfer of property situate out of the United Kingdom, and, unless executed in any part of the United Kingdom, shall be exempt from British stamp duty :

(b)On the death of a member registered in. a colonial register, the shares of the deceased member shall, if he died domiciled in the United Kingdom, but not otherwise, be deemed, so far as relates to British duties, to be part of his estate and effects situate in the United Kingdom for or in respect of which probate or letters of administration is or are to be granted, or whereof an inventory is to be exhibited and recorded, in like manner as if he were registered in the principal register.

37Issue and effect of share warrants to bearer.

(1)A company limited by shares, if so authorised by its articles, may, with respect to any fully paid-up shares, or to stock, issue under its common seal a warrant stating that the bearer of the warrant is entitled to the shares or stock therein specified, and may provide, by coupons or otherwise, for the payment of the future dividends on the shares or stock included in the warrant, in this Act termed a share warrant.

(2)A share warrant shall entitle the bearer thereof to the shares or stock therein specified, and the shares or stock may be transferred by delivery of the warrant.

(3)The bearer of a share warrant shall, subject to the articles of the company, be entitled, on surrendering it for cancellation, to have his name entered as a member in the register of members ; and the company shall be responsible for any loss incurred by any person by reason of the company entering in its register the name of a bearer of a share warrant in respect of the shares or stock therein specified without the warrant being surrendered and cancelled.

(4)The bearer of a share warrant may, if the articles of the company so provide, be deemed to be a member of the company within the meaning of this Act, either to the full extent or for any purposes defined in the articles ; except that he shall not be qualified in respect of the shares or stock specified in the warrant for being a director or manager of the company, in cases where such a qualification is required by the articles.

(5)On the issue of a share warrant the company shall strike out of its register of members the name of the member then entered therein as holding the shares or stock specified in the warrant as if he had ceased to be a member, and shall enter in the register the following particulars, namely :—

(i)The fact of the issue of the warrant ;

(ii)A statement of the shares or stock included in the warrant, distinguishing each share by its number; and

(iii)The date of the issue of the warrant.

(6)Until the warrant is surrendered, the above particulars shall be deemed to be the particulars required by this Act to be entered in the register of members ; and, on the surrender, the date of the surrender must be entered as if it were the date at which a person ceased to be a member.

38Forgery, personation, unlawfully engraving plates, &c.

(1)If any person—

(i)with intent to defraud, forges or alters, or offers, utters, disposes of, or puts off, knowing the same to be forged or altered, any share warrant or coupon, or any document purporting to be a share warrant or coupon, issued in pursuance of this Act ; or by means of any such forged or altered share warrant, coupon, or document, purporting as aforesaid, demands or endeavours to obtain or receive any share or interest in any company under this Act, or to receive any dividend or money payable in respect thereof, knowing the warrant, coupon, or document to be forged or altered ; or

(ii)falsely and deceitfully personates any owner of any share or interest in any company, or of any share warrant or coupon, issued in pursuance of this Act, and thereby obtains or endeavours to obtain any such share or interest or share warrant or coupon, or receives or endeavours to receive any money due to any such owner, as if the offender were the true and lawful owner,

he shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be kept in penal servitude for life or for any term not less than three years.

(2)If any person without lawful authority or excuse, proof whereof shall lie on him, engraves or makes on any plate, wood, stone, or other material any share warrant or coupon purporting to be a share warrant or coupon issued or made by any particular company in pursuance of this Act, or to be a blank share warrant or coupon so issued or made, or to be a part of such a share warrant or coupon, or uses any such plate, wood, stone, or other material for the making or printing of any such share warrant or coupon, or of any such blank share warrant or coupon, or any part thereof respectively, or knowingly has in his custody or possession any such plate, wood, stone, or other material, he shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years and not less than three years.

39Power of company to arrange for different amounts being paid on shares.

A company, if so authorised by its articles, may do any one or more of the following things ; namely,—

(1)Make arrangements on the issue of .shares for a difference between the shareholders in the amounts and times of payment of calls on their shares :

(2)Accept from any member who assents thereto the whole or a part of the amount remaining unpaid on any shares held by him, although no part of that amount has been called up :

(3)Pay dividend in proportion to the amount paid up on each share where a larger amount is paid up on some shares than on others.

40Power to return accumulated profits in reduction of paid-up share capital.

(1)When a company has accumulated a sum of undivided profits, which with the sanction of the shareholders may be distributed among the shareholders in the form of a dividend or bonus, it may, by special resolution, return the same, or any part thereof, to the shareholders in reduction of the paid-up capital of the company, the unpaid capital being thereby increased by a similar amount.

(2)The resolution shall not take effect until a memorandum, showing the particulars required by this Act in the case of a reduction of share capital, has been produced to and registered by the registrar of companies, but the other provisions of this Act with respect to reduction of share capital shall not apply to a reduction of paid-up share capital under this section.

(3)On a reduction of paid-up capital in pursuance of this section any shareholder, or any one or more of several joint shareholders, may within one month after the passing of the resolution for the reduction, require the company to retain, and the company shall retain accordingly, the whole of the money actually paid on tire shares held by him. either alone or jointly with any other person, which, in consequence of the reduction, would otherwise" be returned to him or them, and thereupon those shares shall, as regards the payment of dividend, be deemed to be paid up to the same extent only as the shares on which payment has been accepted by the shareholders in reduction of paid-up capital, and the company shall invest and keep invested the money so retained in such securities authorised for investment by trustees as the company may determine, and on the money so invested or on so much thereof as from time to time exceeds the amount of calls subsequently made on the shares in respect of which it has been retained, the company shall pay the interest received from time to time on the securities.

(4)The amount retained and invested shall be held to represent the future calls which may be made to replace the share capital so reduced on those shares, whether the amount obtained on sale of the whole or such proportion thereof as represents the amount of any call when made produces more or less than the amount of the call.

(5)On a reduction of paid-up share capital in pursuance of this section, the powers vested in the directors of making calls on shareholders in respect of the amount unpaid on their shares shall extend to the amount of the unpaid share capital as augmented by the reduction.

(6)After any reduction of share capital under this section the company shall specify in the annual list of members required by this Act the amounts retained at the request of any of the shareholders in pursuance of this section, and shall specify in the statements of account laid before any general meeting of the company the amount of undivided profits returned in reduction of paid-up share capital under this section.

41Power of company limited by shares to alter its share capital.

(1)A company limited by shares, if so authorised by its articles, may alter the conditions of its memorandum as follows (that is to say), it may—

(a)increase its share capital by the issue of new shares of such amount as it thinks expedient;

(b)consolidate and divide all or any of its share capital into shares of larger amount than its existing shares ;

(c)convert all or any of its paid-up shares into stock, and reconvert that stock into paid-up shares of any denomination; :

(d)subdivide its shares, or any of them, into shares of smaller amount than is fixed by the memorandum so, however, that in the subdivision the proportion between the amount paid and the amount, if any, unpaid on each reduced share shall be the same as it was in the case of the share from which the reduced share is derived ;

(e)cancel shares which, at the date of the passing of the resolution in that behalf, have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person, and diminish the amount of its share capital' by the amount of the shares so cancelled.

(2)The powers conferred by this section with respect to subdivision of shares must be exercised by special resolution.

(3)Where any alteration has been made under this section in the memorandum of a company, every copy of the memorandum issued after the date of the alteration shall be in accordance with the alteration.

If a company makes default in complying with this provision it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for each copy in respect of which default is made ; and every director and manager of the company who knowingly and-wilfully authorises or permits the default shall be liable to the like penalty.

(4)A cancellation of shares in pursuance of this section shall not be deemed to be a reduction of share capital within the meaning of this Act.

42Notice to registrar of consolidation of share capital, conversion of shares into stock, &c.

Where a company having a share capital has consolidated and divided its share capital into shares of larger amount than its existing shares, or converted any of its shares into stock, or reconverted stock into shares, it shall give notice to the registrar of companies of the consolidation, division, conversion, or reconversion specifying the shares-consolidated, divided, or converted, or the stock reconverted.

43Effect of conversion of shares into stock.

Where a company having a share capital has converted any of its shares into stock, and given notice of the conversion to the registrar of companies, all the provisions of this Act which are applicable to shares only shall cease as to so much of the share capital as is converted into stock; and the register of members of the company, and the list of members to be forwarded to the registrar, shall show the amount of stock held by each member instead of the amount of shares and the particulars relating to shares hereinbefore required by this Act.

44Notice of increase of share capital or of members.

(1)Where a company having a share capital, whether its shares have or have not been converted into stock, has increased its share capital beyond the registered capital, and where ii company not having a share capital has increased the number of its members beyond the registered number, it shall give to the registrar of companies, in the case of an increase of share capital, within fifteen days after the passing, or in the case of a special resolution the confirmation, of the resolution authorising the increase, and in the case of an increase of members within fifteen days after the increase was resolved on or took place, notice of the increase of capital or members, and the registrar shall record the increase.

(2)If a company makes default in complying with the requirements of this section it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the default continues, and every director and manager of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default shall be liable to the like penalty.

45Re-organisation of share capital.

(1)A company limited by shares may, by special resolution confirmed by an order of the court, modify the conditions contained in its memorandum so as to reorganise its share capital, whether by the consolidation of shares of different classes or by the division of its shares into shares of different classes :

Provided that no preference or special privilege attached to or belonging to any class of shares shall be interfered with except by a resolution passed by a majority in number of shareholders of that class holding three-fourths of the share capital of that class and confirmed at a meeting of shareholders of that class in the same manner as a special resolution' of the company is required to be confirmed, and every resolution so passed shall bind all shareholders of the class.

(2)Where an order is made under this section an office copy thereof shall be filed with the registrar of companies within seven days after the making of the order, or within such further time as the court may allow, and the resolution shall not take effect until such a copy has been so filed.

Reduction of Share Capital.

46Special resolution for reduction of share capital.

(1)Subject to confirmation by the court, a company limited by shares, if so authorised by its articles, may by special resolution reduce its share capital in any way, and in particular (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power) may—

(a)Extinguish or reduce the liability on any of its shares in respect of share capital not paid up ; or

(b)Either with or without extinguishing or reducing liability on any of its shares, cancel any paid-up share capital which is lost or unrepresented by available assets ; or

(c)Either with or without extinguishing or reducing liability on any of its shares, pay off any paid-up share capital which is in excess of the wants of the company,

and may, if and so far as is necessary, alter its memorandum by reducing the amount of its share capital and of its shares accordingly.

(2)A special resolution under this section is in this Act called a resolution for reducing share capital.

47Application to court for confirming order.

Where a company has passed and confirmed a resolution for reducing share capital it may apply by petition to the court for an order confirming the reduction.

48Addition to name of company of " and reduced.".

On and from the confirmation by a company of a resolution for reducing share capital, or where the reduction does not involve either the diminution of any liability in respect of unpaid share capital or the payment to any shareholder of any paid-up share capital, then on and from the presentation of the petition for confirming the reduction, the company shall add to its name, until such date as the court may fix, the words " and reduced, as the last words in its name, and those words shall, until that date, be deemed to be part of the name of the company :

Provided that, where the reduction does not involve either the diminution of any liability in respect of unpaid share capital or the payment to any shareholder of any paid-up share capital, the court may, if it thinks expedient, dispense altogether with the addition of the words " and reduced."

49Objections by creditors and settlement of list of objecting creditors.

(1)Where the proposed reduction of share capital involves either diminution of liability in respect of unpaid share capital or the payment to any shareholder of any paid-up share capital, and in any other case if the court so directs, every creditor of the company who at the date fixed by the court is entitled to any debt or claim which, if that date were the commencement of the winding up of the company, would be admissible in proof against the company, shall be entitled to object to the reduction.

(2)The court shall settle a list of creditors so entitled to object, and for that purpose shall ascertain, as far as possible without requiring an application from any creditor, the names of those creditors and the nature and amount of their debts or claims, and may publish notices fixing a day or days within which creditors not entered on the list are to claim to be so entered or are to be excluded from the right of objecting to the reduction.

(3)Where a creditor entered on the list whose debt or claim is not discharged or determined does not consent to the reduction, the court may, if it thinks fit, dispense with the consent of that creditor, on the company securing payment of his debt or claim by appropriating, as the court may direct, the following amount; (that is to say,)—

(i)If the company admits the full amount of his debt or claim, or, though not admitting it, is willing to provide for it, then the full amount of the debt or claim ;

(ii)If the company does not admit or is not willing to provide for the full amount of the debt or claim, or if the amount is contingent or not ascertained, then an amount fixed by the court after the like inquiry and adjudication as if the company were being wound up by the court.

50Order confirming reduction.

The court, if satisfied, with respect to every creditor of the company who under this Act is entitled to object to the reduction, that either his consent to the reduction has been obtained or his debt or claim has been discharged or has determined, or has been secured, may make an order confirming the reduction on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.

51Registration of order and minute of reduction.

(1)The registrar of companies on production to him of an order of the court confirming the reduction of the share capital of a company, and the delivery to him of a copy of the order and of a minute (approved by the court), showing with respect to the share capital of the company, as altered by the order, the amount of the share capital, the number of shares into which it is to be divided, and the amount of each share, and the amount (if any) at the date of the registration deemed to be paid up on each share, shall register the order and minute.

(2)On the registration, and not before, the resolution for reducing share capital as confirmed by the order so registered shall take effect.

(3)Notice of the registration shall be published in such manner as the court may direct.

(4)The registrar shall certify under his hand the registration of the order and minute, and his certificate shall be conclusive evidence that all the requirements of this Act with respect to reduction of share capital have been complied with, and that the share capital of the company is such as is stated in the minute.

52Minute to form part of memorandum.

(1)The minute when registered shall be deemed to be substituted for the corresponding part of the memorandum of the company, and shall be valid and alterable as if it had been originally contained therein ; and must be embodied in every copy of the memorandum issued after its registration.

(2)If a company makes default in complying with the requirements of this section it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one. pound for each copy in respect of which default is made, and every director and manager of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default shall be liable to the. like penalty.

53Liability of members in respect of reduced shares.

A member of the company, past or present, shall not be liable in respect of any share to any call or contribution exceeding in amount the difference (if any) between the amount paid, or (as the case may be) the reduced amount, if any, which is to be deemed to have been paid, on the share and the amount of the share as fixed by the minute :

Provided that if any creditor, entitled in respect of any debt or claim to object to the reduction of share capital, is, by reason of his ignorance of the proceedings for reduction, or of their nature and effect with respect to his claim, not entered on the list of creditors, and, after the reduction, the company is unable, within the meaning of the provisions of this Act with respect to winding up by the court, to pay the amount of his debt or claim, then—

(i)every person who was a member of the company at the date of the registration of the order for reduction and minute, shall be liable to contribute for the payment of that debt or claim an amount not exceeding the amount which he would have been liable to contribute if the company had commenced to he wound up on the day before that registration ; and

(ii)if the company is wound up, the court, on the application of any such creditor, and proof of his ignorance as aforesaid may, if it thinks fit, settle accordingly a list of persons so liable to contribute, and make and enforce calls and orders on the contributories settled on the list as if they were ordinary contributories in a winding up.

Nothing in this section shall affect the rights of the contributories among themselves.

54Penalty on concealment of name of creditor.

If any director, manager, or officer of the company wilfully conceals the name of any creditor entitled to object to the reduction, or wilfully misrepresents the nature or amount of the debt or claim of any creditor, or if any director or manager of the company aids or abets in or is privy to any such concealment or misrepresentation as aforesaid, every such director, manager, or officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

55Publication of reasons for reduction.

In any case of reduction of share capital, the court may require the company to publish as the court directs the reasons for reduction, or such other information in regard thereto as the court may think expedient with a view to give proper information to the public, and, if the court thinks fit, the causes which, led to the reduction.

56Increase and reduction of share capital in case of a company limited by guarantee having a share capital.

A company limited by guarantee and registered on or after the first day of January nineteen hundred and one, may, if it has a share capital, and is so authorised by its articles, increase or reduce its share capital in the same manner and subject to the same conditions in and subject to which a company limited by shares may increase or reduce its share capital under the provisions of this Act.

Registration of Unlimited Company as Limited.

57Registration of unlimited company as limited.

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, any company registered as unlimited may register under this Act as limited, or any company already registered as a limited company, may re-register under this Act, but the registration of an unlimited company as a limited company shall not affect any debts, liabilities, obligations, or contracts incurred or entered into by, to, with, or on behalf of the company before the registration, and those debts, liabilities, obligations, and contracts may be enforced in manner provided by Part VII. of this Act in the case of a company registered in pursuance of that Part.

(2)On registration in pursuance of this section the registrar shall close the former registration of the company, and may dispense with the delivery to him of copies of any documents with copies of which he was furnished on the occasion of the original registration of the company, but, save as aforesaid, the registration shall take place in the same manner and shall have effect as if it were the first registration of the company under this Act, and as if the provisions of the Acts under which the company was previously registered and regulated had been contained in different Acts of Parliament from those under which the company is registered as a limited company.

58Power of unlimited company to provide for reserve share capital on re-registration.

An unlimited company having a share capital may, by its resolution for registration as a limited company in pursuance of this Act, do either or both of the following things, namely :—

(a)Increase the nominal amount of its share capital by increasing the nominal amount of each of its shares, but subject to the condition that no part of the increased capital shall be capable of being called up except in the event and for the purposes of the company being wound up ;

(b)Provide that a specified portion of its uncalled share capital shall not be capable of being called up except in the event and for the purposes of the company being-wound up.—

Reserve Liability of Limited Company.

59Reserve liability of limited company.

A limited company may by special resolution determine that any portion of its share capital which has not been already called up shall not be capable of being called up, except in the event and for the purposes of the company being wound up, and thereupon that portion of its share capital shall not be capable of being called up except in the event and for the purposes aforesaid.

Unlimited Liability of Directors.

60Limited company may have directors with unlimited liability.

(1)In a limited company the liability of the directors or managers, or of the managing director, may, if so provided by the memorandum, be unlimited.

(2)In a limited company in which the liability of a director or manager is unlimited, the directors or managers of the company (if any), and the member who proposes a person for election or appointment to the office of director or manager, shall add to that proposal a statement that the liability of the person holding that office will be unlimited, and the promoters, directors, managers, and secretary (if any) of the company, or one of them, shall, before the person accepts the office or acts therein, give him notice in writing that his liability will be unlimited.

(3)If any director, manager, or proposer makes default in adding such a statement, or if any promoter, director, manager, or secretary makes default in giving such a notice, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and shall also be liable for any damage which the person so elected or appointed may sustain from the default, but the liability of the person elected or appointed shall not be affected by the default.

61Special resolution of limited company making liability of directors unlimited.

(1)A limited company, if so authorised by its articles, may, by special resolution, alter its memorandum so as to render unlimited the liability of its directors, or managers, or of any managing director.

(2)Upon the confirmation of any such special resolution the provisions thereof shall be as valid as if they had been originally contained in the memorandum ; and a copy thereof shall be embodied in or annexed to every copy of the memorandum issued after the confirmation of the resolution.

(3)If a company makes default in complying with the requirements of this section, it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for each copy in respect of which default is made ; and every director or manager of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default shall be liable to the like penalty.

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