Section 116: Rights to inspect and require copies
243.This section replaces section 356 of the 1985 Act. Under section 356, the obligation to make the register available for inspection is subject to an exception when the register is closed under section 358 of the 1985 Act. The power to close the register has not been carried forward in the Act and so the obligation in subsection (1) is absolute. The CLR recommended that information in a company’s register of members should be made available only for certain specified purposes (Final Report, paragraph 11.44). This section follows this recommendation. It modifies the rights of inspection and to be provided with copies of the register of members and its index. (Section 1137 provides power for the Secretary of State to make regulations about the inspection of records and provision of copies and to set fees.) Subsections (3) and (4), which are new, require those seeking to inspect or to be provided with a copy of the register of members to provide their names and addresses, the purpose for which the information will be used, and, if the access is sought on behalf of others, similar information for them.