Sections 456 to 458: Application to court
702.Sections 456 and 457 concern applications to the court in respect of defective accounts or reports. They re-enact sections 245B and 245C of the 1985 Act. Section 457 gives the Secretary of State the power to authorise a person for the purposes of section 456 to apply to the courts to require the directors of companies to prepare revised accounts and reports where the original accounts or reports were defective. Authorisation is subject to the negative resolution procedure, which corresponds to the existing provision. The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) is the only authorised person under this provision to date (the Companies (Defective Accounts) (Authorised Person) Order 2005: SI 2005/699).
703.Section 458 re-enacts sections 245D and 245E of the 1985 Act. It provides for the disclosure of information by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to a person authorised under section 457 (currently the FRRP) to apply to the court in respect of defective accounts and reports. The provision contains important limitations, including criminal offences for use or disclosure of the information other than for permitted purposes. Section 458(5)(b)(ii) increases the term of imprisonment from three months to six months for a person convicted on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland for an offence of unlawful disclosure. Subsection (2) provides that personal data may not be disclosed in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1998.
