Companies Act 1985

704 Registration offices. E+W+S

(1) For the purposes of the registration of companies under the Companies Acts, there shall continue to be offices in England and Wales and in Scotland, at such places as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

(2) The Secretary of State may appoint such registrars, assistant registrars, clerks and servants as he thinks necessary for that purpose, and may make regulations with respect to their duties, and may remove any persons so appointed.

(3) The salaries of the persons so appointed continue to be fixed by the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Treasury, and shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

(4) The Secretary of State may direct a seal or seals to be prepared for the authentication of documents required for or in connection with the registration of companies; and any seal so prepared is referred to in this Act as the registrar’s official seal.

(5) Wherever any act is by the Companies Acts directed to be done to or by the registrar of companies, it shall (until the Secretary of State otherwise directs) be done to or by the existing registrar of companies in England and Wales or in Scotland (as the case may be), or to or by such person as the Secretary of State may for the time being authorise.

(6) In the event of the Secretary of State altering the constitution of the existing registration offices or any of them, any such act shall be done to or by such officer and at such place with reference to the local situation of the registered offices of the companies to be registered as the Secretary of State may appoint.

[F1 (7) Subsection (8) below applies where by virtue of an order made under section 69 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 a person is authorised by the registrar of companies to accept delivery of any class of documents which are under any provision of the Companies Acts to be delivered to the registrar.

F1 (8) If—

(a) the registrar directs that documents of that class shall be delivered to a specified address of the authorised person; and

(b) the direction is printed and made available to the public (with or without payment),

any document of that class which is delivered to an address other than the specified address shall be treated for the purposes of those Acts as not having been delivered.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 704(7)(8) inserted (3.1.1995) by 1994 c. 40, ss. 76, 82(2)(f), Sch. 16 para. 8

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 704 applied (with modifications) (6.4.2001) by S.I. 2001/1090, reg. 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I

C2 S. 704(2) amended (3.12.1998) by 1998 c. 48, ss. 23, 25(3), Sch. 3 para. 2

C3 S. 704(5) extended (with modifications) by S.I. 1989/638, regs. 18, 21, Sch. 4 paras. 15, 16, 17

S. 704(5) amended (12.2.1992) by S.I. 1992/225, reg. 121, Sch. 8 para. 10.

C4 S. 704(5)(7)(8) applied (8.10.2004) by The European Public Limited-Liability Company Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/2326), reg. 14, Sch. 2 para. 1