790B: Companies to which this Part applies
389.Section 790B sets out the companies to which Part 21A applies.
390.Subsection (1) (a) provides that the Part does not apply to companies which are DTR5 issuers. This is because such companies already make information about major shareholders public and, in view of the general regulatory provisions to which they are subject, are thought to be lower risk generally of being used for criminal purposes.
391.‘DTR5 issuer’ is defined in subsection (3) and refers to companies required to comply with Chapter 5 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules sourcebook (‘DTR rules’), or those provisions as amended or replaced. These are companies who have shares admitted to trading on UK regulated or prescribed markets, for example the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Chapter 5 sets out the vote holder and issuer notification rules that apply when major shareholdings are bought and sold. These notifications are publicly available.
392.Subsection (1) (b) provides that the Secretary of State may by regulations exempt other types of company. In making regulations the Secretary of State must have considered whether those companies are subject to disclosure rules broadly similar to those that apply to DTR5 issuers (subsection (2)). Regulations might, for example, exempt UK companies listed on overseas markets with comparable disclosure and transparency rules.
