Sources of company membership information: Difference between revisions
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All registered companies are required to keep a register of members at their registered office (or a specified alternate location), to let people inspect it, and to provide copies on request (Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the {{ukpga|2006|46}}). Under {{uksi|2007|2612}}, doing so costs £3.50 per hour. Alternatively, copies can be requested for £1 + postage for each of the first five entries. {{uksi|2008|3006}} makes further provision regarding the inspection and copying of company records. | All registered companies are required to keep a register of members at their registered office (or a specified alternate location), to let people inspect it, and to provide copies on request (Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the {{ukpga|2006|46}}). Under {{uksi|2007|2612}}, doing so costs £3.50 per hour. Alternatively, copies can be requested for £1 + postage for each of the first five entries. {{uksi|2008|3006}} makes further provision regarding the inspection and copying of company records. | ||
Private companies with share capital are required to include a list of members in their annual return (at least every third return), which can be obtained from Companies House for £1. This requirement doesn't apply to most PLCs, and appears not to apply to companies without share capital. | Private companies with share capital are required to include a list of members in their annual return (at least every third return), which can be obtained from Companies House for £1 [http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/gbhtml/gp2.shtml#ch1]. This requirement doesn't apply to most PLCs, and appears not to apply to companies without share capital. | ||
The list of initial members of a company can be found in its memorandum of association (also available from Companies House for £1). | The list of initial members of a company can be found in its memorandum of association (also available from Companies House for £1). | ||
Revision as of 16:36, 23 April 2011
In order to work out whether a company is a public authority by virtue of FOIA Section 6 or a Scottish public authority by virtue of FOISA Section 6, it's useful to be able to find out who its members are. There are various ways of doing this, none of which will work in all circumstances.
The annual accounts of many public authorities list their subsidiaries, either as long-term investments or as associated undertakings. The presence of group accounts (also called consolidated accounts) indicates that an authority has at least one subsidiary. In some cases, the published accounts of a subsidiary will state who its parent is in the introduction.
When they update their entry in the Data Protection Register, bodies are required to declare whether they're public authorities, so it's sometimes easier just to find that a body admits to being a public authority without working out why.
All registered companies are required to keep a register of members at their registered office (or a specified alternate location), to let people inspect it, and to provide copies on request (Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the Companies Act 2006). Under SI 2007/2612, doing so costs £3.50 per hour. Alternatively, copies can be requested for £1 + postage for each of the first five entries. SI 2008/3006 makes further provision regarding the inspection and copying of company records.
Private companies with share capital are required to include a list of members in their annual return (at least every third return), which can be obtained from Companies House for £1 [1]. This requirement doesn't apply to most PLCs, and appears not to apply to companies without share capital.
The list of initial members of a company can be found in its memorandum of association (also available from Companies House for £1).
Accounting standards
For accounts prepared under UK GAAP, FRS 8 requires the disclosure of the name of the party controlling the reporting entity and, if different, that of the ultimate controlling party.1 IAS24 applies similar requirements for accounts prepared under IFRS.2
