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There has been considerable discussion by the Bills Committee on the question of the abolition of "ultra vires". Members of the Committee, and also the wider business community, expressed support for the principles involved but, at the same time, were interested to examine the different approaches to the problem taken in different common law jurisdictions. Certain positive and constructive suggestions arose from this process and these have resulted in technical improvements to the Bill. I shall be moving the resulting amendments at the committee stage.
On the de-regulation of forms, the Bills Committee and professional associations were again in support of the principle but were concerned that any discretion given to the Registrar of Companies to amend the forms administratively should not be too wide. The Committee suggested that the powers of the Registrar to make alterations should be limited to form and not substance. I shall therefore be moving amendments to define the limits within which the Registrar of Companies may exercise his powers in determining the contents of the forms.
Members of the Committee felt that any proposals for substantial change to the type of information sought in the forms should still be required to go through the existing legislative procedures. This arrangement is acceptable to the Registrar of Companies who is primarily seeking the flexibility to be able to respond to changes such as developments in information technology that may make revisions in the format of the forms desirable. Having said this, I understand that the providers of business services would not welcome frequent changes given the time required to gear up for revisions to company forms. We will endeavour to be sensitive to this when considering the need for change.
Mr President, with these remarks, I commend the Companies (Amendment) Bill 1996 to Members.
End
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