Companies Act 2006 – Section 1086
Right to copy of material on the register
1393. This section provides that any person is entitled to a copy of material on the register.
Consistent with the provisions of the amended First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC),
These Notes refer to the Companies Act 2006 (c.46)
which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006 subsection (2) provides that the fee for a copy may not exceed the administrative cost of
providing the service.
Section 1087: Material not available for public inspection
1394. This section sets out a number of exceptions to the above rights to inspect and copy
material on the register. These are listed in subsection (1)(a) to (k) and include, for example,
“protected information”, i.e. information about directors’ home addresses. Subsection (2)
provides that the fact that certain material (for example, an address), which has been placed
on the register as a result of the filing of two or more different types of document, is
confidential in one of those contexts, does not mean that it cannot be made public in its other
context.
Section 1088: Application to registrar to make address unavailable for public inspection
1395. This section is a new provision. It confers power on the Secretary of State to make
regulations providing for applications to remove addresses from the public record held by
Companies House. The regulations may set out the details of who can apply and on what
grounds and the procedure involved. They are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
Sections 1089 to 1091: Provision of copies of material on the register
1396. These sections enable the registrar to specify the form and manner in which
applications for inspection of the register, or for copies of material on it, must be made, and
to determine the form and manner in which copies are provided. They are subject to
important exceptions, arising from the amended First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC),
in respect of the documents listed at section 1078.
1397. Section 1089 provides that applications must be capable of being submitted in hard
copy or in electronic form, as the applicant chooses.
Section 1090 similarly provides that the
applicant is entitled to insist on receiving the copies themselves in hard copy or in electronic
form (subject to an exception in respect of documents delivered before 1 January 2007).
1398. Section 1091, again responding to provisions of the amended First Company Law
Directive (68/151/EEC), provides that, unless the applicant chooses otherwise, copies of
information provided in hard copy must be certified as true copies but electronic copies must
not be so certified. Subsection (3) provides for the evidential status of certified hard copies in legal proceedings. The Secretary of State has power to prescribe by regulations methods of
certification for copies provided by electronic means.
Section 1092: Issue of process for production of records kept by the registrar
1399. This section restates section 709(5) of the 1985 Act and provides that no-one can take
proceedings against the registrar for production of records without first obtaining the
permission of the court.
Correction or removal of material on the register
Section 1093: Registrar’s notice to resolve inconsistency on the register
1400. This section enables the registrar to notify a company of an apparent inconsistency in
the information on the register. An example might be where a document is received notifying
the removal of a director where there is no record of his appointment. In such circumstances,
the registrar may give notice to the company requiring them to resolve the inconsistency
within 14 days by providing additional or replacement documents. Failure to do so on the
company’s part is an offence (subsection (3)).
Section 1094: Administrative removal of material from the register
1401. The registrar has a power to remove from the register information that there was a
power but no duty to enter. Under subsection (4), the registrar will need to send a notice to
the presenter of the information in question, or to the company to which the material relates,
on or before removing the material.
1402. The registrar may not however remove information from the register where
registration has had legal consequences for the company as regards certain key events, as set
out in subsection (3), including for example its formation or a change of registered office.
Section 1095: Rectification of register on application to registrar
1403. This section gives the Secretary of State a power to make regulations under which,
following a successful application, the registrar may be required to remove certain kinds of
material from the register. The procedure may only cover certain types of document. It may
operate in respect of material that derives from something that is invalid or ineffective or
from something that was done without the authority of the company (this would cover forms
filed without authority); and material that is factually inaccurate or forged or derives from
something that is factually inaccurate or forged.
1404. The registrar may only act as a result of an application, and regulations may provide
for matters such as who may make the application and what information will need to be
provided with it. Where the material removed is of a kind whose registration has had legal
consequences, subsection (5) provides that interested parties have the right to go to court to
obtain an order as to the material’s legal effect.
Section 1096: Rectification of the register under court order
1405. The registrar is also required to remove material from the register where there is a
court order to that effect. The court’s rectification power operates in the same circumstances
as the registrar’s power following regulations made under section 1094. However, the court’s
power is of general application. For example, there is no limit on the types of document
covered. The court may make an order to remove material from the register where its
presence on the register has caused damage or may cause damage to the company and the
company’s interests in removing the material outweigh the interests of others in it continuing
to be on the register. The court may make such consequential orders as appear just regarding
the period that the information was on the register and the effect of the information being on
the register during that period. The court’s rectification power does not operate where the
court has other rectification powers (e.g. in relation to accounts or charges).
Section 1097: Powers of court on ordering removal of material from the register
1406. This section provides that where a court decides that certain information should be
removed from the public register, the court may also make directions as to annotations
(removing notes that are already there or directing that now new notes appear as a result of its
order – or that notes appear in a restricted form) and as to whether its own order should be
available for public inspection.
Section 1098: Public notice of removal of certain material from the register
1407. Section 1077 provides for the registrar to give public notice that she has received
certain documents relating to a company in the Gazette or through some other form of
publication. This section creates a corresponding obligation for her to give notice where she
removes such material.