(1)There shall continue to be—
(a)a registrar of companies for England and Wales,
(b)a registrar of companies for Scotland, and
(c)a registrar of companies for Northern Ireland.
(2)The registrars shall be appointed by the Secretary of State.
(3)In the Companies Acts “the registrar of companies” and “the registrar” mean the registrar of companies for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, as the case may require.
(4)References in the Companies Acts to registration in a particular part of the United Kingdom are to registration by the registrar for that part of the United Kingdom.
(1)The registrar shall continue—
(a)to perform the functions conferred on the registrar—
(i)under the Companies Acts, and
(ii)under the enactments listed in subsection (2), and
(b)to perform such functions on behalf of the Secretary of State, in relation to the registration of companies or other matters, as the Secretary of State may from time to time direct.
(2)The enactments are—
the Joint Stock Companies Acts;
the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 (c. 60);
the Limited Partnerships Act 1907 (c. 24);
section 53 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 (c. 12) or, for Northern Ireland, section 62 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (c. 24 (N.I.));
the Insolvency Act 1986 (c. 45) or, for Northern Ireland, the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19));
section 12 of the Statutory Water Companies Act 1991 (c. 58);
sections 3, 4, 6, 63 and 64 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Housing Act 1996 (c. 52) or, for Northern Ireland, Articles 3 and 16 to 32 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (S.I. 1992/1725 (N.I. 15));
sections 2, 4 and 26 of the Commonwealth Development Corporation Act 1999 (c. 20);
Part 6 and section 366 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8);
the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (c. 12);
section 14 of the Insolvency Act 2000 (c. 39) or, for Northern Ireland, Article 11 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/3152 (N.I. 6));
section 121 of the Land Registration Act 2002 (c. 9);
section 1248 of this Act.
(3)References in this Act to the functions of the registrar are to functions within subsection (1)(a) or (b).
The registrar shall have an official seal for the authentication of documents in connection with the performance of the registrar’s functions.
(1)The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations requiring the payment to the registrar of fees in respect of—
(a)the performance of any of the registrar’s functions, or
(b)the provision by the registrar of services or facilities for purposes incidental to, or otherwise connected with, the performance of any of the registrar’s functions.
(2)The matters for which fees may be charged include—
(a)the performance of a duty imposed on the registrar or the Secretary of State,
(b)the receipt of documents delivered to the registrar, and
(c)the inspection, or provision of copies, of documents kept by the registrar.
(3)The regulations may—
(a)provide for the amount of the fees to be fixed by or determined under the regulations;
(b)provide for different fees to be payable in respect of the same matter in different circumstances;
(c)specify the person by whom any fee payable under the regulations is to be paid;
(d)specify when and how fees are to be paid.
(4)Regulations under this section are subject to negative resolution procedure.
(5)In respect of the performance of functions or the provision of services or facilities—
(a)for which fees are not provided for by regulations, or
(b)in circumstances other than those for which fees are provided for by regulations,
the registrar may determine from time to time what fees (if any) are chargeable.
(6)Fees received by the registrar are to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(7)The Limited Partnerships Act 1907 (c. 24) is amended as follows—
(a)in section 16(1) (inspection of statements registered)—
(i)omit the words “, and there shall be paid for such inspection such fees as may be appointed by the Board of Trade, not exceeding 5p for each inspection”, and
(ii)omit the words from “and there shall be paid for such certificate” to the end;
(b)in section 17 (power to make rules)—
(i)omit the words “(but as to fees with the concurrence of the Treasury)”, and
(ii)omit paragraph (a).