Insurance Companies Act 1974

7 No authorisation for body under control etc. of unfit persons

(1) The Secretary of State shall not issue an authorisation in respect of any body (" the relevant body ") if It appears to him that any director, controller or manager of that body is not a fit and proper person to be a director, controller or manager of that body, as the case may be.

(2) In this section "controller", in relation to the relevant body, means—

(a) a managing director of the relevant body or of a body corporate of which it is a subsidiary;

(b) a chief executive of the relevant body or of a body corporate, being an insurance company, of which it is a subsidiary;

(c) a person—

(i) in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the relevant body or of a body corporate of which it is a subsidiary (or any of them) are accustomed to act; or

(ii) who, either alone or with any associate or associates, is entitled to exercise, or control the exercise of, one third or more of the voting power at any general meeting of the relevant body or of a body corporate of which it is a subsidiary.

(3) In this section " manager ", in relation to the relevant body, means a person (other than a chief executive) employed by that body who, under the immediate authority of a director or chief executive of that body—

(a) exercises managerial functions; or

(b) is responsible for maintaining accounts or other records of that body,

not being a person whose functions relate exclusively to business conducted from a place of business outside Great Britain.

(4) Subject to subsection (5) below, in this section "chief executive ", in relation to the relevant body or a body corporate of which it is a subsidiary, means a person employed by the relevant body or that body corporate, who, either alone or jointly with one or more other persons, is responsible under the immediate authority of the directors for the conduct of the whole of the insurance business of the relevant body or that body corporate.

(5) In relation to a relevant body incorporated outside Great Britain—

(a) the reference in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above to a managing director of that body includes a reference to a person who is a managing director of that body in respect of so much of its insurance business as is carried on within Great Britain; and

(b) the reference in paragraph (b) of that subsection to a chief executive of that body includes a reference to a person employed by that body who, either alone or jointly with one or more other persons, is responsible (whether or not under the immediate authority of the directors) for the conduct of the whole of the insurance business carried on by that body within Great Britain but, if he is responsible also for the conduct of insurance business carried on by it elsewhere, only if there is no other person subordinate to him who is responsible for the conduct of the whole of the insurance business carried on by it within Great Britain.

(6) In this section "associate", in relation to any person, means—

(a) the wife or husband or minor son or daughter of that person;

(b) any company of which that person is a director ;

(c) any person who is an employee or partner of that person;

(d) if that person is a company—

(i) any director of that company;

(ii) any subsidiary of that company;

(iii) any director or employee of any such subsidiary ;

and for the purposes of this subsection " son " includes step-son and adopted son, " daughter" includes step-daughter and adopted daughter and " minor ", in relation to Scotland, includes pupil.