Companies Act 1985

5 (1) There shall be disclosed—

(a) any qualifications contained in the auditors’ reports on the accounts of subsidiary undertakings for financial years ending with or during the financial year of the company, and

(b) any note or saving contained in such accounts to call attention to a matter which, apart from the note or saving, would properly have been referred to in such a qualification,

in so far as the matter which is the subject of the qualification or note is not covered by the company’s own accounts and is material from the point of view of its members.

(2) The aggregate amount of the total investment of the company in the shares of subsidiary undertakings shall be stated by way of the equity method of valuation, unless—

(a) the company is exempt from the requirement to prepare group accounts by virtue of section 228 (parent company included in accounts of larger group), and

(b) the directors state their opinion that the aggregate value of the assets of the company consisting of shares in, or amounts owing (whether on account of a loan or otherwise) from, the company’s subsidiary undertakings is not less than the aggregate of the amounts at which those assets are stated or included in the company’s balance sheet.

(3) In so far as information required by this paragraph is not obtainable, a statement to that effect shall be given instead.