(1)The following provisions apply for the purposes of the Companies Acts.
(2)A document or information is sent or supplied in hard copy form if it is sent or supplied in a paper copy or similar form capable of being read.
References to hard copy have a corresponding meaning.
(3)A document or information is sent or supplied in electronic form if it is sent or supplied—
(a)by electronic means (for example, by e-mail or fax), or
(b)by any other means while in an electronic form (for example, sending a disk by post).
References to electronic copy have a corresponding meaning.
(4)A document or information is sent or supplied by electronic means if it is—
(a)sent initially and received at its destination by means of electronic equipment for the processing (which expression includes digital compression) or storage of data, and
(b)entirely transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means.
References to electronic means have a corresponding meaning.
(5)A document or information authorised or required to be sent or supplied in electronic form must be sent or supplied in a form, and by a means, that the sender or supplier reasonably considers will enable the recipient—
(a)to read it, and
(b)to retain a copy of it.
(6)For the purposes of this section, a document or information can be read only if—
(a)it can be read with the naked eye, or
(b)to the extent that it consists of images (for example photographs, pictures, maps, plans or drawings), it can be seen with the naked eye.
(7)The provisions of this section apply whether the provision of the Companies Acts in question uses the words “sent” or “supplied” or uses other words (such as “deliver”, “provide”, “produce” or, in the case of a notice, “give”) to refer to the sending or supplying of a document or information.