Territorial Extent and Devolution Unlimited private company becoming limited Section 108: Statement of capital required where company already has share capital
229.This section is a new provision which requires a company that has re-registered from unlimited having a share capital to private limited by shares to file a statement of capital with the registrar in certain circumstances. The statement must be delivered to the registrar within 15 days of the company’s re-registration and, where the company fails to observe this requirement, the company and every officer of the company who is in default, commits an offence (seesubsection (4)).
230.The provision is necessary because unlimited companies are required to provide a statement of capital to the registrar in a limited number of circumstances only: in particular, where the company has a share capital on formation (see section 10) or where an unlimited company having a share capital makes an annual return to the registrar under section 854. Consequently, where an unlimited company having a share capital re-registers as private limited by shares under section 107, in contrast to other companies that are limited by shares, the information on the public register pertaining to the company’s subscribed capital may be out of date (in particular if the company has allotted further shares subsequent to its formation or, as the case may be, its last annual return).
231.The requirement for a statement of capital in this section puts companies which have re-registered as private limited by shares under section 107 on the same footing as other companies limited by shares on the register and ensures that the information on the public register is up-to-date. The company will, however, be exempted from the requirement to provide a statement of capital on re-registration where there has been no change to the company’s total subscribed capital since it was first formed and registered or, as the case may be, since the company filed its most recent annual return (see subsection (2)).