Register of directors and register of directors’ residential addresses
642.Paragraph 7 inserts new sections 167A to 167F into the CA 2006 setting out the rules which allow private companies to keep information on the public register instead of the register of directors and/or the register of directors’ residential addresses.
643.New section 167A provides that a private company may elect to hold the register of directors and/or the register of directors’ residential addresses on the public register.
644.New section 167B provides that an election takes effect when it is registered by the registrar. An election remains in force until either a company ceases to be a private company or withdraws the election (subsection (2)).
645.New section 167C provides that, during the period when an election is in force, a company does not have to keep a register of directors and/or the register of directors’ residential addresses.
646.New section 167D imposes a duty on the company, whilst an election is in force, to deliver information to the registrar that would otherwise have to be notified to the registrar under section 167 (subsection (2)). It is an offence for a company not to comply with this duty (subsections (4) and (5)).
647.New section 167E deals with the withdrawal of an election. A company must give notice of withdrawal to the registrar (subsection (2)), which takes effect on registration by the registrar (subsection (3)). On withdrawal, the obligations in sections 162, 165 and 167 to maintain a register and notify the registrar of changes apply to the company (subsection (4)). Subsection (5) provides that, on withdrawal of an election a company must enter in its register all the information relating to matters that are current that is required to be contained in the register. However, a company is not required to enter information relating to the period when an election was in force that is no longer current (for example, the details of a person who has ceased to be a director during the election period).
648.New section 167F gives the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to extend the option to public companies (subsection (1)). Regulations are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure (subsection (2)).
