Part 1: Call-in for national security Chapter 4: Procedure Section 15: Requirement to consider retrospective validation without application
Section 15 applies to notifiable acquisitions which were not approved by the Secretary of State before they were completed, and which are consequently void. Where the Secretary of State becomes aware of a void notifiable acquisition, subsection (2) requires the Secretary of State to either give a call-in notice (see section 1) or a validation notice in relation to the acquisition, within 6 months.
	Pursuant to subsection (3) the effect of a validation notice is that the notifiable acquisition in question is to be treated as having been completed with the approval of the Secretary of State, and it is therefore not void. A validation notice must be given to the person who was required to give a mandatory notice to the Secretary of State in relation to the notification (see section 14) and such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. The Secretary of State must also notify those persons that no further action is to be taken under the Act in relation to the acquisition.