Companies Act 1948

Registration.

12 Registration of memorandum and articles.

The memorandum and the articles, if any, shall be delivered to the registrar of companies for England or the registrar of companies for Scotland according as the registered office of the company is stated by the memorandum to be situate in England or Scotland, and the registrar shall retain and register them.

13 Effect of registration.

(1) On the registration of the memorandum of a company the registrar shall certify under his hand that the company is incorporated and, in the case of a limited company, that the company is limited.

(2) From the date of incorporation mentioned in the certificate of incorporation, the subscribers of the memorandum, together with such other persons as may from time to time become members of the company, shall be a body corporate by the name contained in the memorandum, capable forthwith of exercising all the functions of an incorporated company, and having perpetual succession and a common seal, but with such liability on the part of the members to contribute to the assets of the company in the event of its being wound up as is mentioned in this Act.

14 Power of company to hold lands.

(1) A company incorporated under this Act shall have power to hold lands, and as regards lands in any part of the United Kingdom without licence in mortmain:

Provided that a company formed for the purpose of promoting art, science, religion, charity or any other like object not involving the acquisition of gain by the company or by its individual members, shall not, without the licence of the Board of Trade, hold more than two acres of land, but the Board may by licence empower any such company to hold lands in such quantity, and subject to such conditions, as the Board think fit.

(2) A licence given by the Board of Trade under this section shall be in accordance with the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, or as near thereto as circumstances admit.

15 Conclusiveness of certificate of incorporation.

(1) A certificate of incorporation given by the registrar in respect of any association shall be conclusive evidence that all the requirements of this Act in respect of registration and of matters precedent and incidental thereto have been complied with, and that the association is a company authorised to be registered and duly registered under this Act.

(2) A statutory declaration by a solicitor of the Supreme Court, and in Scotland by a solicitor, engaged in the formation of the company, or by a person named in the articles as a director or secretary of the company, of compliance with all or any of the said requirements shall be produced to the registrar, and the registrar may accept such a declaration as sufficient evidence of compliance.

16 Registration of unlimited company as limited.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a company registered as unlimited may register under this Act as limited, or a company already registered as a limited company may re-register under this Act, but the registration of an unlimited company as a limited company shall not affect the rights or liabilities of the company in respect of any debt or obligation incurred, or any contract entered into, by, to, with or on behalf of the company before the registration, and those rights or liabilities may be enforced in manner provided by Part VIII of this Act in the case of a company registered in pursuance of that Part.

(2) On registration in pursuance of this section the registrar shall close the former registration of the company, and may dispense with the delivery to him of copies of any documents with copies of which he was furnished on the occasion of the original registration of the company, but, save as aforesaid, the registration shall take place in the same manner and shall have effect as if it were the first registration of the company under this Act, and as if the provisions of the Acts under which the company was previously registered and regulated had been contained in different Acts from those under which the company is registered as a limited company.