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It is obvious that, if the
company at its registered office.
inspector had evidence tending to show that an offence had been
committed by the company or any of its officers, the submission
of a formal written report to the Financial Secretary, which
then had to be copied to the company,might seriously prejudice any
subsequent action to be taken by the authorities. Accordingly,
in implementation of a recommendation made by the Companies Law
Revision Committee in its Second Report (April 1973) a new
subsection 146(4) was introduced by the Companies (Amendment)
Ordinance 1984 which provided that an inspector may at any time in
the course of his investigation, without the necessity of making
an interim report, inform the Financial Secretary of matters coming
to his knowledge as a result of the investigation tending to show
that an offence has been committed.
5.4
The new subsection (4) only dealt with the problem as
far as criminal matters were concerned.
5.5
However, there are also provisions in the Companies Ordinance
for civil proceedings to be taken as a result of an inspector's report.
Section 147(2) provides that if it appears to the Financial Secretary
from the report
(a) that it is expedient in the public interest that
the company should be wound up, he may present a
petition for it to be wound up if the court thinks
it just and equitable to do so, and
(b) that the business of the company is being conducted
in a manner unfairly prejudicial to the interests of
any part of its members, he may, in addition to or
instead of, petitioning for winding up under (a),
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