Source: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/2326/body/made
Timestamp: 2017-11-23 05:49:35
Document Index: 489812871

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART 2', 'ART 3', 'ART 3', 'art 10', 'art\n52', 'ART 4', 'ART 5', 'ART 6', 'ART 7']

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Public Limited-Liability Company Regulations 2004.
EC Directive and EC Regulation
PART 2REGISTRATION OF SEs AND THE REGISTRAR ETC.
4. The registrar has the functions conferred by this Part in relation to the registration, or the deletion of the registration, of an SE.
Registration of an SE formed by merger in accordance with Article 2(1)
5. Where it is proposed to register an SE formed by merger in accordance with Article 2(1) there shall be delivered to the registrar a registration form in Form SE5, and, if applicable, Form SE(SR) set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in respect of each Form.
Registration of the formation of a subsidiary SE in accordance with Article 2(3)
7. Where it is proposed to register a subsidiary SE formed in accordance with Article 2(3) there shall be delivered to the registrar a registration form in Form SE7, and, if applicable, Form SE(SR), set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in respect of each Form.
Registration of an SE by the transformation of a public company in accordance with Article 2(4)
8. Where it is proposed to register an SE by the transformation of a public company in accordance with Article 2(4) there shall be delivered to the registrar a registration form in Form SE8, and, if applicable, Form SE(SR) set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in respect of each Form.
Registration of an SE on the transfer of its registered office to Great Britain in accordance with Article 8
10. Where it is proposed to transfer to Great Britain the registered office of an SE whose registered office is situated in another Member State there shall be delivered to the registrar a registration form in respect of that SE in Form SE10, and, if applicable, Form SE(SR), set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in respect of each Form.
Certificate of the competent authority under Article 8(8)
11. Where it is proposed to transfer the registered office of an SE from Great Britain to another Member State there shall be delivered to the Secretary of State for the purposes of applying for the issue of a certificate under Article 8(8), a transfer form in Form SE11 set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in that Form.
12. The registrar shall register an SE formed or transformed under the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 or an SE whose registered office is transferred to Great Britain under Article 8 where she is satisfied that all the requirements of these Regulations and the EC Regulation in respect of such formation, transformation or transfer of an SE, as the case may be, have been complied with in respect of that SE.
Documents sent to the registrar
13.—(1) The registrar shall retain any document delivered to her under any provision of these Regulations or the EC Regulation and such documents shall be treated as records kept by the registrar for the purposes of the 1985 Act in respect of the SE or the company to which they relate.
14. The provisions of the 1985 Act specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations shall apply in respect of
False statements in documents sent to the registrar or the Secretary of State
15. Any person who makes a false statement:
PART 3EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT
CHAPTER 1INTERPRETATION OF PART 3
any other employees of their employer who are elected or appointed as employee representatives to positions in which they are expected to receive, on behalf of the employees, information—
elect or appoint some of the members of the SE’s or the participating company’s supervisory or administrative organ; or
recommend and/or oppose the appointment of some or all of the members of the SE’s or the participating company’s supervisory or administrative organ;
represent at least two thirds of the employees of the participating companies and their concerned subsidiaries and establishments employed in the Member States; and
include members representing employees employed in at least two Member States;
CHAPTER 2PARTICIPATING COMPANIES AND THE SPECIAL NEGOTIATING BODY
Duty on participating company to provide information
18.—(1) When the competent organ of a participating company decides to form an SE, that organ shall, as soon as possible after—
19.—(1) An employees' representative or, where there is no such representative for an employee, the employee may present a complaint to the CAC that—
Function of the special negotiating body
20. The special negotiating body and the competent organs of the participating companies shall have the task of reaching an employee involvement agreement.
21.—(1) The competent organs of the participating companies shall make arrangements for the establishment of a special negotiating body which shall be constituted in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7) below.
Complaint about establishment of special negotiating body
22.—(1) An application may be presented to the CAC for a declaration that the special negotiating body has not been established at all or has not been established properly in accordance with regulation 21.
CHAPTER 3ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT OF UK MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL NEGOTIATING BODY
Appointment of UK members by a consultative committee
(2) (a) Where this regulation applies, the election provided for in regulation 23 shall not take place but the consultative committee shall be entitled to appoint the UK member or members of the special negotiating body who would otherwise be elected pursuant to regulation 22 provided that the consultative committee’s appointment complied with sub-paragraph (b).
(b)The consultative committee is entitled to appoint as a member of the special negotiating body:
26.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, a member elected in a ballot in accordance with regulation 21(2), shall be treated as representing the employees for the time being of the participating company and of any concerned subsidiary or establishment whose employees were entitled to vote in the ballot in which he was elected.
CHAPTER 4NEGOTIATION OF THE EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT AGREEMENT
Negotiations to reach an employee involvement agreement
27.—(1) In this regulation and in regulation 28 the competent organs of the participating companies and the special negotiating body are referred to as “the parties”.
The employee involvement agreement
28.—(1) The employee involvement agreement must be in writing.
Decisions of the special negotiating body
29.—(1) Each member of the special negotiating body shall have one vote.
Decision not to open or to terminate negotiations
30.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the special negotiating body may decide, by a two thirds majority vote, not to open negotiations with the competent organs of the participating companies or to terminate any such negotiations.
Complaint about decisions of special negotiating body
31.—(1) If a member of the special negotiating body, an employees' representative, or where there is no such representative in respect of an employee, that employee believes that the special negotiating body has taken a decision referred to in regulation 29 or 30 and—
CHAPTER 5STANDARD RULES ON EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT
32.—(1) Without prejudice to paragraph (3), where this regulation applies, the competent organ of the SE and its subsidiaries and establishments shall make arrangements for the involvement of employees of the SE and its subsidiaries and establishments in accordance with the standard rules on employee involvement.
CHAPTER 6COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Disputes about operation of an employee involvement agreement or the standard rules on employee involvement
in a case where a representative body has been appointed or elected, a member of that body; or
in a case where no representative body has been elected or appointed, an information and consultation representative or an employee of the SE.
34.—(1) A penalty notice issued under regulation 33 shall specify—
35.—(1) If an employees' representative or where there is no such representative in relation to an employee, the employee, believes that a participating company or an SE is misusing or intending to misuse the SE or the powers in these Regulations for the purpose of—
36. The remedy for infringement of the rights conferred by these Regulations is by way of complaint to the CAC in accordance with Chapters 1 to 5 of this Part and not otherwise.
CHAPTER 7CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
37.—(1) Where an SE, a subsidiary of an SE, a participating company or any concerned subsidiary entrusts a person, pursuant to the provisions of this Part of these Regulations, with any information or document on terms requiring it to be held in confidence, the person shall not disclose that information or document except in accordance with the terms on which it was disclosed to him.
(5) No action shall lie under paragraph (3) where the recipient reasonably believed the disclosure to be a “protected disclosure” within the meaning given to that expression by section 43A of the 1996 Act(5).
Withholding of information by the competent organ
38.—(1) Neither an SE registered in Great Britain nor a participating company registered in Great Britain is required to disclose any information or document to a person for the purposes of this Part of these Regulations where the nature of the information or document is such that, according to objective criteria, the disclosure of the information or document would seriously harm the functioning of, or would be prejudicial to the SE or any subsidiary or establishment of the SE or, as the case may be, to the participating company or any subsidiary or establishment of the participating company.
CHAPTER 8PROTECTION FOR MEMBERS OF SPECIAL NEGOTIATING BODY, ETC.
Right to time off for members of special negotiating body, etc.
39.—(1) An employee who is—
Right to remuneration for time off under regulation 39
40.—(1) An employee who is permitted to take time off under regulation 39 is entitled to be paid remuneration by his employer for the time taken off at the appropriate hourly rate.
41.—(1) An employee may present a complaint to an employment tribunal that his employer—
42.—(1) An employee who is dismissed and to whom paragraph (2) or (5) applies shall be regarded, if the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is a reason specified in, respectively, paragraph (3) or (6), as unfairly dismissed for the purposes of Part 10 of the 1996 Act.
43.—(1) In section 105 of the 1996 Act (redundancy as unfair dismissal) in subsection (1)(c) (which requires one of a specified group of subsections to apply for a person to be treated as unfairly dismissed)(6)—
(2) In section 108(7) of the 1996 Act (exclusion of right: qualifying period of employment) in subsection (3) (cases where no qualifying period of employment is required)(8)—
(3) In section 109 of the 1996 Act (exclusion of right: upper age limit) in subsection (2) (cases where the upper age limit does not apply)(9)—
44.—(1) An employee to whom paragraph (2) or (5) applies has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or deliberate failure to act, by his employer, done on a ground specified in, respectively, paragraph (3) or (6).
46. In section 18 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (conciliation), in subsection (1) (which specifies the proceedings and claims to which the section applies)(10) after paragraph (m), insert—
47.—(1) Where under these Regulations a person presents a complaint or makes an application to the CAC the complaint or application must be in writing and in such form as the CAC may require.
48.—(1) Any proceedings before the Appeal Tribunal under these Regulations, other than appeals under paragraph (o) of section 21(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996(11) (appeals from employment tribunals on questions of law), shall—
49. In section 21(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (circumstances in which an appeal lies to the Appeal Tribunal from an employment tribunal) after paragraph (n), insert—
50.—(1) If on receipt of an application or complaint under these Regulations the CAC is of the opinion that it is reasonably likely to be settled by conciliation, it shall refer the application or complaint to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (“ACAS”) and shall notify the applicant or complainant and any persons whom it considers have a proper interest in the application or complaint accordingly, whereupon ACAS shall seek to promote a settlement of the matter.
51.—(1) Any provision in any agreement (whether an employee’s contract or not) is void in so far as it purports—
Restrictions on contracting out: Chapter 8 of this Part
52.—(1) Any provision in any agreement (whether an employee’s contract or not) is void in so far as it purports—
(a)as respects England and Wales, a barrister (whether in practice as such or employed to give legal advice), a solicitor who holds a practicing certificate, or a person other than a barrister or solicitor who is an authorised advocate or authorised litigator (within the meaning of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990(12)); and
53. In the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999, after regulation 46 insert—
PART 4EXERCISE OF MEMBER STATES OPTIONS UNDER THE EC REGULATION
Participation in the formation of an SE by a company formed under the law of a Member State whose head office is not in the Community (Article 2(5))
55. A company, formed under the law of a Member State, the head office of which is not in the Community, may participate in the formation of an SE where the company’s registered office is in that Member State and it has a real and continuous link with a Member State’s economy.
56.—(1) The SE shall notify in writing its shareholders, and every creditor of whose claim and address it is aware, of the right to examine the transfer proposal and the report drawn up under Article 8(3), at its registered office and, on request, to obtain copies of those documents free of charge, not later than one month before the general meeting called to decide on the transfer.
Extension of protection given by Article 8(7) to liabilities incurred prior to transfer (Article 8(7))
57. The first sub-paragraph of Article 8(7) shall apply to liabilities that arise (or may arise) prior to the transfer.
Power of the competent authorities of a Member State to oppose a transfer on public interest grounds (Article 8(14))
58. If a transfer of a registered office of an SE would result in a change in the law applicable to the SE, the competent authorities may, within the two month period referred to within Article 8(6), oppose the transfer, on public interest grounds.
Power of the management or administrative organ of an SE to amend statutes where in conflict with employee involvement arrangements (Article 12(4))
59. Where there is a conflict between the arrangements for employee involvement and the existing statutes the management or administrative organ of the SE may amend the statutes to the extent necessary to resolve the conflict without any further decision from the general shareholders meeting.
Power of the competent authorities of a Member State to oppose the participation of a merging company governed by its law on public interest grounds (Article 19)
60. A company of a type specified in relation to the United Kingdom in Annex 1 to the EC Regulation may not take part in the formation of an SE, whether or not it is to be registered in Great Britain, by merger if any of the competent authorities oppose it before the issue of the certificate referred to in Article 25(2) on public interest grounds.
Minimum number of members of the supervisory organ (Article 40(3))
62. The minimum number of the members of the supervisory organ of an SE is two.
Members of the supervisory organ to be entitled to require the management organ to provide certain information (Article 41(3))
63. Each member of the supervisory organ is entitled to require the management organ to provide to that member information of a kind which the supervisory organ needs to exercise supervision in accordance with Article 40(1).
64. The minimum number of the members of the administrative organ of an SE is two.
Timing of the first general meeting of an SE (Article 54(1))
65. The first general meeting of an SE may be held at any time in the 18 months following an SE’s incorporation.
Proportion of shareholders of an SE who may require one or more additional items to be put on the agenda of any general meeting (Article 56)
66. The proportion of the shareholders of an SE who may require one or more additional items put on the agenda of any general meeting is to be the holders of at least 5% of the SE’s subscribed capital.
SEs subject to law on public limited liability companies as regard the expression of their capital (Article 67(1))
67. An SE shall be subject to the provisions of the enactments and rules of law applying to a public company as regards the expression of its capital.
PART 5PROVISIONS REQUIRED BY THE EC REGULATION
Publication of terms of transfer, formation and conversion (Articles 8(2), 32(3) and 37(5))
68.—(1) Where a transfer proposal is drawn up under Article 8(2)—
69. Where an SE is formed by merger, whether its registered office is in Great Britain or not, and a public company has taken part in that procedure, the registrar shall cause to be published in the Gazette notice that the merger has been completed.
Publication of fulfilment of conditions for the formation of a holding SE (Article 33(3))
70.—(1) Where, in respect of a company of a type specified in relation to the United Kingdom in Annex II to the EC Regulation, the conditions for the formation of a holding SE, whether or not it is to be registered in Great Britain, are fulfilled, the company shall deliver to the registrar within 14 days of such fulfilment notice of that event in the Form SE70(1) set out in Schedule 1 and the registrar shall cause to be published in the Gazette notice that these conditions have been fulfilled.
Publication of other documents or information (Articles 8(12), 15(2), 59(3) and 65)
71.—(1) Where, under the Articles of the EC Regulation listed in paragraph (2), the occurrence of an event is required to be publicised, the registrar shall cause to be published in the Gazette notice of receipt of the particulars of that event described in those Articles.
Protection of creditors and others on a transfer (Article 8(7))
72.—(1) Where an SE proposes to transfer its registered office to another Member State under Article 8 the SE shall satisfy the Secretary of State that the interests of creditors and holders of other rights in respect of the SE (including those of public bodies) have been adequately protected in respect of any liabilities arising (or that may arise) prior to the transfer by the making of a statement of solvency in the terms set out in paragraphs (4) and (5).
(5) In forming their opinion for the purposes of paragraph (4)(a), the members of the administrative or the management organ, as the case may be, shall take into account the same liabilities (including prospective and contingent liabilities) as would be relevant under section 122 of the Insolvency Act 1986(13) (winding up by the court) to the question whether a company is unable to pay its debts.
Power of Secretary of State where an SE no longer complies with the requirements of Article 7
73.—(1) If it appears that an SE no longer complies with the requirements laid down in Article 7, the Secretary of State may direct the SE to regularise its position in accordance with Article 64(1)(a) or (b) within such period as may be specified in the direction.
(b)in the case of an SE whose registered office is in Scotland, by an application to the Court of Session for an order under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988(14).
“Petition for winding up of SE
124B.—“(1) Where—
Review of decisions of a competent authority (Articles 8(14) and 19)
74.—(1) Where any competent authority or competent authorities oppose—
PART 6PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF THE EC REGULATION
75. The competent authorities designated under Article 68(2) are—
Records of an SE transferred under Article 8(11) or a public company ceasing to exist under Article 29(1) and (2)
77.—(1) Where—
Application of enactments to members of supervisory, management and administrative organs
78.—(1) This regulation applies to enactments relating to public companies to the extent that they are required, by the EC Regulation, in the manner described in paragraph 2, to be applied in relation to SEs.
Register of members of supervisory organ
79.—(1) Every SE which has adopted the form of a two-tier system in its statutes shall keep at its registered office a register of the members of its supervisory organ (“the members”); and the register shall, with respect to the particulars to be contained in it of those persons, comply with the paragraphs below.
Particulars of members to be registered under regulation 79
80.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation, the register kept by an SE under regulation 79 shall contain the following particulars with respect to each member—
The SE as a body corporate
82.—(1) Where, under Articles 59(3) and 65, publication by the registrar in the Gazette of the events described in those Articles is required by regulation 71(1)—
83.—(1) Where an SE transfers its registered office to Great Britain under Article 8—
Penalties for Breach of Article 11 (use of SE in name)
84. Where:
PART 7PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE CONVERSION OF AN SE TO A PUBLIC COMPANY IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 66 OF THE EC REGULATION
Registration of a public company by the conversion of an SE
85. Where it is proposed to convert an SE to a public company in accordance with Article 66 there shall be delivered to the registrar a registration form in Form SE85 set out in Schedule 1 together with the documents specified in that Form; and, for the purposes of registering the SE, (in this Part referred to as the “converting SE”), as a public company under the provisions of the 1985 Act, the provisions of that Act shall have effect with the modifications set out in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to these Regulations and subject to the provisions of this Part.
Publication of draft terms of conversion
86. Where under Article 66(4) draft terms of conversion are required to be publicised there shall be delivered to the registrar a copy of such draft terms accompanied by Form SE86 set out in Schedule 1 and the registrar shall cause to be published in the Gazette notice of the receipt by her of the copy of the draft terms.
Registration under the 1985 Act
87.—(1) On and after the day on which Form SE85 is delivered to the registrar section 12(2) of the 1985 Act (duty of the registrar) shall apply in relation to the memorandum and articles of association of the converting SE delivered with Form SE85 as if—
88.—(1) In its application to a converting SE on or after registration the 1985 Act shall have effect with the modifications set out in paragraphs 2 to 10 of Schedule 4 to these Regulations.
Records of a converting SE
89. The records of a converting SE, when the converting SE has been registered as a public company limited by shares under the provisions of this Part, relating to any period before its registration as a public company shall be treated for the purposes of the 1985 Act as if they were records of that public company.