23. After section 98 insert—
98A.—(1) A document or information required for the purposes of this Act must, if sent in electronic form, be sent in a form, and by a means, that the sender reasonably considers will enable the recipient to read it and retain a copy of it.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a document or information can be read only if—
(a)it can be read with the naked eye; or
(b)to the extent that it consists of images (for example photographs, pictures, maps, plans or drawings), it can be seen with the naked eye.
98B.—(1) The registrar may impose requirements as to the form, authentication and manner of delivery of documents sent electronically to it under this Act.
(2) As regards authentication, the registrar may—
(a)require the document to be authenticated by a particular person or a person of a particular description;
(b)specify the means of authentication;
(c)require the document to contain or be accompanied by the name or registered number of the society to which it relates (or both).
(3) As regards the manner of delivery, the registrar may specify requirements as to the hardware and software to be used, and technical specifications (for example, matters relating to protocol, security, anti-virus protection or encryption).
(4) The power conferred by this section does not authorise the registrar to require documents to be delivered electronically.
(5) Requirements imposed under this section must not be inconsistent with requirements imposed by this Act or any other statutory provision with respect to the form, authentication and delivery of the document concerned.
(6) In this section, a document is sent electronically if it is sent by electronic means or in electronic form.
98C. The registrar may charge a person a reasonable fee before—
(a)allowing the person to inspect a document held by it in connection with this Act, or
(b)providing the person with a copy of such a document (or a copy of part of such a document).”.