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Obligation to lay group accounts before holding company.
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150.—(1) Where at the end of its financial year a company has subsidiaries, accounts or statements (in this Act referred to as “group accounts”) dealing as hereinafter mentioned with the state of affairs and profit or loss of the company and the subsidiaries (including those in liquidation) shall, subject to subsection (2), and, in the case of a private company, to section 154, be laid before the annual general meeting of the company when the company's own balance sheet and profit and loss account are so laid.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1)—
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(a) group accounts shall not be required where the company is at the end of its financial year the wholly owned subsidiary of another body corporate incorporated in the State; and
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(b) group accounts need not deal with a subsidiary of the company if the company's directors are of opinion that—
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(i) it is impracticable, or would be of no real value to members of the company, in view of the insignificant amounts involved, or would involve expense or delay out of proportion to the value to members of the company, or
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(ii) the result would be misleading;
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and if the directors are of such an opinion about each of the company's subsidiaries, group accounts shall not be required.
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(3) If the group accounts do not deal with a subsidiary of the company, any member of the company shall be entitled to be furnished without charge within 14 days after he has made a request in that behalf to the company with a copy of the latest balance sheet of such subsidiary which has been sent to the members of that subsidiary together with a copy of every document required by law to be annexed thereto and a copy of the directors' and auditors' reports.
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If any copy required under this subsection is not sent within the proper time, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable, in respect of each offence, to a fine not exceeding £100 unless it is proved that the member has already made a demand for and been furnished with a copy and in the case of any default under this subsection the court may direct that the copies required shall be sent to the member requiring them.
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(4) If any person being a director of a company fails to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance as respects the company with subsection (1), he shall, in respect of each offence, be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding £100 or to both, so, however, that—
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(a) in any proceedings against a person in respect of an offence under this section, it shall be a defence to prove that he had reasonable ground to believe and did believe that a competent and reliable person was charged with the duty of seeing that the requirements of this section were complied with and was in a position to discharge that duty; and
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(b) a person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment for an offence under this section unless, in the opinion of the court dealing with the case, the offence was committed wilfully.
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(5) For the purposes of this section, a body corporate shall be deemed to be the wholly-owned subsidiary of another if it has no members except that other and that other's wholly-owned subsidiaries and its or their nominees.
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