Companies Act 1948

Meetings and Proceedings.

130 Statutory meeting and statutory report.

(1) Every company limited by shares and every company limited by guarantee and having a share capital shall, within a period of not less than one month nor more than three months from the date at which the company is entitled to commence business, hold a general meeting of the members of the company, which shall be called “the statutory meeting ”.

(2) The directors shall, at least fourteen days before the day on which the meeting is held, forward a report (in this Act referred to as “the statutory report ”) to every member of the company:

Provided that if the statutory report is forwarded later than is required by this subsection, it shall, notwithstanding that fact, be deemed to have been duly forwarded if it is so agreed by all the members entitled to attend and vote at the meeting.

(3) The statutory report shall be certified by not less than two directors of the company and shall state—

(a) the total number of shares allotted, distinguishing shares allotted as fully or partly paid up otherwise than in cash, and stating in the case of shares partly paid up the extent to which they are so paid up, and in either case the consideration for which they have been allotted;

(b) the total amount of cash received by the company in respect of all the shares allotted, distinguished as aforesaid;

(c) an abstract of the receipts of the company and of the payments made thereout, up to a date within seven days of the date of the report, exhibiting under distinctive headings the receipts of the company from shares and debentures and other sources, the payments made thereout, and particulars concerning the balance remaining in hand, and an account or estimate of the preliminary expenses of the company;

(d) the names, addresses and descriptions of the directors, auditors, if any, managers, if any, and secretary of the company; and

(e) the particulars of any contract the modification of which is to be submitted to the meeting for its approval, together with the particulars of the modification or proposed modification.

(4) The statutory report shall, so far as it relates to the shares allotted by the company, and to the cash received in respect of such shares, and to the receipts and payments of the company on capital account, be certified as correct by the auditors, if any, of the company.

(5) The directors shall cause a copy of the statutory report, certified as required by this section, to be delivered to the registrar of companies for registration forthwith after the sending thereof to the members of the company.

(6) The directors shall cause a list showing the names, descriptions and addresses of the members of the company, and the number of shares held by them respectively, to be produced at the commencement of the meeting and to remain open and accessible to any member of the company during the continuance of the meeting.

(7) The members of the company present at the meeting shall be at liberty to discuss any matter relating to the formation of the company, or arising out of the statutory report, whether previous notice has been given or not, but no resolution of which notice has not been given in accordance with the articles may be passed.

(8) The meeting may adjourn from time to time, and at any adjourned meeting any resolution of which notice has been given in accordance with the articles, either before or subsequently to the former meeting, may be passed, and the adjourned meeting shall have the same powers as an original meeting.

(9) In the event of any default in complying with the provisions of this section, every director of the company who is knowingly and wilfully guilty of the default or, in the case of default by the company, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(10) This section shall not apply to a private company.

131 Annual general meeting.

(1) Every company shall in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general meeting in addition to any other meetings in that year, and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it; and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one annual general meeting of a company and that of the next:

Provided that, so long as a company holds its first annual general meeting within eighteen months of its incorporation, it need not hold it in the year of its incorporation or in the following year.

(2) If default is made in holding a meeting of the company in accordance with the foregoing subsection, the Board of Trade may, on the application of any member of the company, call, or direct the calling of, a general meeting of the company and give such ancillary or consequential directions as the Board think expedient, including directions modifying or supplementing, in relation to the calling, holding and conducting of the meeting, the operation of the company's articles; and it is hereby declared that the directions that may be given under this subsection include a direction that one member of the company present in person or by proxy shall be deemed to constitute a meeting.

(3) A general meeting held in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection shall, subject to any directions of the Board of Trade, be deemed to be an annual general meeting of the company; but, where a meeting so held is not held in the year in which the default in holding the company's annual general meeting occurred, the meeting so held shall not be treated as the annual general meeting for the year in which it is held unless at that meeting the company resolves that it shall be so treated.

(4) Where a company resolves that a meeting shall be so treated, a copy of the resolution shall, within fifteen days after the passing thereof, be forwarded to the registrar of companies and recorded by him.

(5) If default is made in holding a meeting of the company in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, or in complying with any directions of the Board of Trade under subsection (2) thereof, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and if default is made in complying with subsection (4) of this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine of two pounds.

132 Convening of extraordinary general meeting on requisition.

(1) The directors of a company, notwithstanding anything in its articles, shall, on the requisition of members of the company holding at the date of the deposit of the requisition not less than one-tenth of such of the paid-up capital of the company as at the date of the deposit carries the right of voting at general meetings of the company, or, in the case of a company not having a share capital, members of the company representing not less than one-tenth of the total voting rights of all the members having at the said date a right to vote at general meetings of the company, forthwith proceed duly to convene an extraordinary general meeting of the company.

(2) The requisition must state the objects of the meeting, and must be signed by the requisitionists and deposited at the registered office of the company, and may consist of several documents in like form each signed by one or more requisitionists.

(3) If the directors do not within twenty-one days from the date of the deposit of the requisition proceed duly to convene a meeting, the requisitionists, or any of them representing more than one half of the total voting rights of all of them, may themselves convene a meeting, but any meeting so convened shall not be held after the expiration of three months from the said date.

(4) A meeting convened under this section by the requisitionists shall be convened in the same manner, as nearly as possible, as that in which meetings are to be convened by directors.

(5) Any reasonable expenses incurred by the requisitionists by reason of the failure of the directors duly to convene a meeting shall be repaid to the requisitionists by the company, and any sum so repaid shall be retained by the company out of any sums due or to become due from the company by way of fees or other remuneration in respect of their services to such of the directors as were in default.

(6) For the purposes of this section the directors shall, in the case of a meeting at which a resolution is to be proposed as a special resolution, be deemed not to have duly convened the meeting if they do not give such notice thereof as is required by section one hundred and forty-one of this Act.

133 Length of notice for calling meetings.

(1) Any provision of a company's articles shall be void in so far as it provides for the calling of a meeting of the company (other than an adjourned meeting) by a shorter notice than—

(a) in the case of the annual general meeting, twenty-one days' notice in writing; and

(b) in the case of a meeting other than an annual general meeting or a meeting for the passing of a special resolution, fourteen days' notice in writing in the case of a company other than an unlimited company and seven days' notice in writing in the case of an unlimited company.

(2) Save in so far as the articles of a company make other provision in that behalf (not being a provision avoided by the foregoing subsection) a meeting of the company (other than an adjourned meeting) may be called—

(a) in the case of the annual general meeting, by twenty-one days' notice in writing; and

(b) in the case of a meeting other than an annual general meeting or a meeting for the passing of a special resolution, by fourteen days' notice in writing in the case of a company other than an unlimited company and by seven days' notice in writing in the case of an unlimited company.

(3) A meeting of a company shall, notwithstanding that it is called by shorter notice than that specified in the last foregoing subsection or in the company's articles, as the case may be, be deemed to have been duly called if it is so agreed—

(a) in the case of a meeting called as the annual general meeting, by all the members entitled to attend and vote thereat; and

(b) in the case of any other meeting, by a majority in number of the members having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, being a majority together holding not less than ninety-five per cent. in nominal value of the shares giving a right to attend and vote at the meeting, or, in the case of a company not having a share capital, together representing not less than ninety-five per cent. of the total voting rights at that meeting of all the members.

134 General provisions as to meetings and votes.

The following provisions shall have effect in so far as the articles of the company do not make other provision in that behalf:—

(a) notice of the meeting of a company shall be served on every member of the company in the manner in which notices are required to be served by Table A, and for the purpose of this paragraph the expression “Table A ” means that table as for the time being in force;

(b) two or more members holding not less than one-tenth of the issued share capital or, if the company has not a share capital, not less than five per cent. in number of the members of the company may call a meeting;

(c) in the case of a private company two members' and in the case of any other company three members, personally present shall be a quorum;

(d) any member elected by the members present at a meeting may be chairman thereof;

(e) in the case of a company originally having a share capital, every member shall have one vote in respect of each share or each ten pounds of stock held by him, and in any other case every member -shall have one vote.

135 Power of court to order meeting.

(1) If for any reason it is impracticable to call a meeting of a company in any manner in which meetings of that company may be called, or to conduct the meeting of the company in manner prescribed by the articles or this Act, the court may, either of its own motion or on the application of any director of the company or of any member of the company who would be entitled to vote at the meeting, order a meeting of the company to be called, held and conducted in such manner as the court thinks fit, and where any such order is made may give such ancillary or consequential directions as it thinks expedient; and it is hereby declared that the directions that may be given under this subsection include a direction that one member of the company present in person or by proxy shall be deemed to constitute a meeting.

(2) Any meeting called, held and conducted in accordance with an order under the foregoing subsection shall for all purposes be deemed to be a meeting of the company duly called, held and conducted.

136 Proxies.

(1) Any member of a company entitled to attend and vote at a meeting of the company, shall be entitled to appoint another person (whether a member or not) as his proxy to attend and vote instead of him, and a proxy appointed to attend and vote instead of a member of a private company shall also have the same right as the member to speak at the meeting:

Provided that, unless the articles otherwise provide,—

(a) this subsection shall not apply in the case of a company not having a share capital; and

(b) a member of a private company shall not be entitled to appoint more than one proxy to attend on the same occasion; and

(c) a proxy shall not be entitled to vote except on a poll.

(2) In every notice calling a meeting of a company having a share capital there shall appear with reasonable prominence a statement that a member entitled to attend and vote is entitled to appoint a proxy or, where that is allowed, one or more proxies to attend and vote instead of him, and that a proxy need not also be a member; and if default is made in complying with this subsection, as respects any meeting, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(3) Any provision contained in a company's articles shall be void in so far as it would have the effect of requiring the instrument appointing a proxy, or any other document necessary to show the validity of or otherwise relating to the appointment of a proxy, to be received by the company or any other person more than forty-eight hours before a 'meeting or adjourned meeting in order that the appointment may be effective thereat.

(4) If for the purpose of any meeting of a company invitations to appoint as proxy a person or one of a number of persons specified in the invitations are issued at the company's expense to some only of the members entitled to be sent a notice of the meeting and to vote thereat by proxy, every officer of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits their issue as aforesaid shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds:

Provided that an officer shall not be liable under this subsection by reason only of the issue to a member at his request in writing of a form of appointment naming the proxy or of a list of persons willing to act as proxy if the form or list is available on request in writing to every member entitled to vote at the meeting by proxy.

(5) This section shall apply to meetings of any class of members of a company as it applies to general meetings of the company.

137 Right to demand a poll.

(1) Any provision contained in a company's articles shall be void in so far as it would have the effect either—

(a) of excluding the right to demand a poll at a general meeting on any question other than the election of the chairman of the meeting or the adjournment of the meeting; or

(b) of making ineffective a demand for a poll on any such question which is made either—

(i) by not less than five members having the right to vote at the meeting; or

(ii) by a member or members representing not less than one tenth of the total voting rights of all the members having the right to vote at the meeting; or

(iii) by a member or members holding shares in the company conferring a right to vote at the meeting, being shares on which an aggregate sum has been paid up equal to not less than one tenth of the total sum paid up on all the shares conferring that right.

(2) The instrument appointing a proxy to vote at a meeting of a company shall be deemed also to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll, and for the purposes of the foregoing subsection a demand by a person as proxy for a member shall be the same as a demand by the member.

138 Voting on a poll.

On a poll taken at a meeting of a company or a meeting of any class of members of a company, a member entitled to more than one vote need not, if he votes, use all his votes or cast all the votes he uses in the same way.

139 Representation of corporations at meetings of companies and of creditors.

(1) A corporation, whether a company within the meaning of this Act or not, may—

(a) if it is a member of another corporation, being a company within the meaning of this Act, by resolution of its directors or other governing body authorise such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the company or at any meeting of any class of members of the company;

(b) if it is a creditor (including a holder of debentures) of another corporation, being a company within the meaning of this Act, by resolution of its directors or other governing body authorise such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of any creditors of the company held in pursuance of this Act or of any rules made thereunder, or in pursuance of the provisions contained in any debenture or trust deed, as the case may be.

(2) A person authorised as aforesaid shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the corporation which he represents as that corporation could exercise if it were an individual shareholder, creditor or holder of debentures of that other company.

140 Circulation of members' resolutions, &c.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section it shall be the duty of a company, on the requisition in writing of such number of members as is hereinafter specified and (unless the company otherwise resolves) at the expense of the requisitionists,—

(a) to give to members of the company entitled to receive notice of the next annual general meeting notice of any resolution which may properly be moved and is intended to be moved at that meeting;

(b) to circulate to members entitled to have notice of any general meeting sent to them any statement of not more than one thousand words with respect to the matter referred to in any proposed resolution or the business to be dealt with at that meeting.

(2) The number of members necessary for a requisition under the foregoing subsection shall be—

(a) any number of members representing not less than one twentieth of the total voting rights of all the members having at the date of the requisition a right to vote at the meeting to which the requisition relates; or

(b) not less than one hundred members holding shares in the company on which there has been paid up an average sum, per member, of not less than one hundred pounds.

(3) Notice of any such resolution shall be given, and any such statement shall be circulated, to members of the company entitled to have notice of the meeting sent to them by serving a copy of the resolution or statement on each such member in any manner permitted for service of notice of the meeting, and notice of any such resolution shall be given to any other member of the company by giving notice of the general effect of the resolution in any manner permitted for giving him notice of meetings of the company:

Provided that the copy shall be served, or notice of the effect of the resolution shall be given, as the case may be, in the same manner and, so far as practicable, at the same time as notice of the meeting and, where it is not practicable for it to be served or given at that time, it shall be served or given as soon as practicable thereafter.

(4) A company shall not be bound under this section to give notice of any resolution or to circulate any statement unless—

(a) a copy of the requisition signed by the requisitionists (or two or more copies which between them contain the signatures of all the requisitionists) is deposited at the registered office of the company—

(i) in the case of a requisition requiring notice of a resolution, not less than six weeks before the meeting; and

(ii) in the case of any other requisition, not less than one week before the meeting; and

(b) there is deposited or tendered with the requisition a sum reasonably sufficient to meet the company's expenses in giving effect thereto:

Provided that if, after a copy of a requisition requiring notice of a resolution has been deposited at the registered office of the company, an annual general meeting is called for a date six weeks or less after the copy has been deposited, the copy though not deposited within the time required by this subsection shall be deemed to have been properly deposited for the purposes thereof.

(5) The company shall also not be bound under this section to circulate any statement if, on the application either of the company or of any other person who claims to be aggrieved, the court is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section are being abused to secure needless publicity for defamatory matter; and the court may order the company's costs on an application under this section to be paid in whole or in part by the requisitionists, notwithstanding that they are not parties to the application.

(6) Notwithstanding anything in the company's articles, the business which may be dealt with at an annual general meeting shall include any resolution of which notice is given in accordance with this section, and for the purposes of this subsection notice shall be deemed to have been so given notwithstanding the accidental omission, in giving it, of one cr more members.

(7) In the event of any default in complying with the provisions of this section, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.

141 Extraordinary and special resolutions.

(1) A resolution shall be an extraordinary resolution when it has been passed by a majority of not less than three fourths of such members as, being entitled so to do, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy, at a general meeting of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as an extraordinary resolution has been duly given.

(2) A resolution shall be a special resolution when it has been passed by such a majority as is required for the passing of an extraordinary resolution and at a general meeting of which not less than twenty-one days' notice, specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution, has been duly given:

Provided that, if it is so agreed by a majority in number of the members having the right to attend and vote at any such meeting, being a majority together holding not less than ninety-five per cent. in nominal value of the shares giving that right, or, in the case of a company not having a share capital, together representing not less than ninety-five per cent. of the total voting rights at that meeting of all the members, a resolution may be proposed and passed as a special resolution at a meeting of which less than twenty-one days' notice has been given.

(3) At any meeting at which an extraordinary resolution or a special resolution is submitted to be passed, a declaration of the chairman that the resolution is carried shall, unless a poll is demanded, be conclusive evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of or against the resolution.

(4) In computing the majority on a poll demanded on the question that an extraordinary resolution or a special resolution be passed, reference shall be had to the number of votes cast for and against the resolution.

(5) For the purposes of this section, notice of a meeting shall be deemed to be duly given and the meeting to be duly held when the notice is given and the meeting held in manner provided by this Act or the articles.

142 Resolutions requiring special notice.

Where by any provision hereafter contained in this Act special notice is required of a resolution, the resolution shall not be effective unless notice of the intention to move it has been given to the company not less than twenty-eight days before the meeting at which it is moved, and the company shall give its members notice of any such resolution at the same time and in the same manner as it gives notice of the meeting or, if that is not practicable, shall give them notice thereof, either by advertisement in a newspaper having an appropriate circulation or in any other mode allowed by the articles, not less than twenty-one days before the meeting:

Provided that if, after notice of the intention to move such a resolution has been given to the company, a meeting is called for a date twenty-eight days or less after the notice has been given, the notice though not given within the time required by this subsection shall be deemed to have been properly given for the purposes thereof.

143 Registration and copies of certain resolutions and agreements.

(1) A printed copy of every resolution or agreement to which this section applies shall, within fifteen days after the passing or making thereof, be forwarded to the registrar of companies and recorded by him:

Provided that an exempt private company need not forward a printed copy of any such resolution or agreement if instead it forwards to the registrar of companies a copy in some other form approved by him.

(2) Where articles have been registered, a copy of every such resolution or agreement for the time being in force shall be embodied in or annexed to every copy of the articles issued after the passing of the resolution or the making of the agreement.

(3) Where articles have not been registered, a printed copy of every such resolution or agreement shall be forwarded to any member at his request on payment of one shilling or such less sum as the company may direct.

(4) This section shall apply to—

(a) special resolutions;

(b) extraordinary resolutions;

(c) resolutions which have been agreed to by all the members of a company, but which, if not so agreed to, would not have been effective for their purpose unless, as the case may be, they had been passed as special resolutions or as extraordinary resolutions;

(d) resolutions or agreements which have been agreed to by all the members of some class of shareholders but which, if not so agreed to, would not have been effective for their purpose unless they had been passed by some particular majority or otherwise in some particular manner, and all resolutions or agreements which effectively bind all the members of any class of shareholders though not agreed to by all those members;

(e) resolutions requiring a company to be wound up voluntarily, passed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section two hundred and seventy-eight of this Act.

(5) If a company fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine of two pounds.

(6) If a company fails to comply with subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for each copy in respect of which default is made.

(7) For the purposes of the two last foregoing subsections, a liquidator of the company shall be deemed to be an officer of the company.

144 Resolutions passed at adjourned meetings.

Where a resolution is passed at an adjourned meeting of—

(a) a company;

(b) the holders of any class of shares in a company;

(c) the directors of a company;

the resolution shall for all purposes be treated as having been passed on the date on which it was in fact passed, and shall not be deemed to have been passed on any earlier date.

145 Minutes of proceedings of meetings of company and of directors and managers.

(1) Every company shall cause minutes of all proceedings of general meetings, all proceedings at meetings of its directors and, where there are managers, all proceedings at meetings of its managers to be entered in books kept for that purpose.

(2) Any such minute if "purporting to be signed by the chairman of the meeting at which the proceedings were had, or by the chairman of the next succeeding meeting, shall be evidence of the proceedings.

(3) Where minutes have been made in accordance with the provisions of this section of the proceedings at any general meeting of the company or meeting of directors or managers, then, until the contrary is proved, the meeting shall be deemed to have been duly held and convened, and all proceedings had thereat to have been duly had, and all appointments of directors, managers or liquidators shall be deemed to be valid.

(4) If a company fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a default fine.

146 Inspection of minute books.

(1) The books containing the minutes of proceedings of any general meeting of a company held on or after the first day of November, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, shall be kept at the registered office of the company, and shall during business hours (subject to such reasonable restrictions as the company may by its articles or in general meeting impose, so that not less than two hours in each day be allowed for inspection) be open to the inspection of any member without charge.

(2) Any member shall be entitled to be furnished within seven days after he has made a request in that behalf to the company with a copy of any such minutes as aforesaid at a charge not exceeding sixpence for every hundred words.

(3) If any inspection required under this section is refused or if any copy required under this section is not sent within the proper time, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable in respect of each offence to a fine not exceeding two pounds and further to a default fine of two pounds.

(4) In the case of any such refusal or default, the court may by order compel an immediate inspection of the books in respect of all proceedings of general meetings or direct that the copies required shall be sent to the persons requiring them.