Companies

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on companies. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
23.11.2012	Mental Health (Discrimination) (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage Report
	This briefing has been prepared for the Report Stage of the Mental Health (Discrimination) (No 2) Bill on 30 November 2012. The Bill is sponsored by Gavin Barwell MP, who was fourth in the 2012-13 ballot for Private Members' Bills.
22.11.2012	Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
	This note summarises the main features of the extractive industries transparency initiative and outlines the sphere of operations of the UK's main mining companies. The note is prepared for the debate on 28 November 2012 on UK mining industries.
17.09.2012	VAT Registration
	All businesses must register for VAT if their turnover of taxable goods and/or services is above a given threshold. This note discusses how the registration threshold has been set in recent years and the debate there has been about whether the threshold is too high or too low.
27.06.2012	The Pensions Regulator: Powers to protect pension benefits
	This note looks at the powers of the Pensions Regulator's powers to protect pension scheme benefits.
22.06.2012	Women in business
	This note lists a selection of research, organisations and publications on women in business.

Research Papers

Date	Description
01.03.2010	Bribery Bill [HL] Bill No 69
	The purpose of the Bill is to provide a modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences to equip prosecutors and courts to deal effectively with bribery in the UK and abroad. It replaces old and fragmented legislation with a modern and consolidated bribery law. The Bill creates offences of offering, promising or giving of a bribe and requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of a bribe either in the UK or abroad, in the public or private sectors. It also creates a discrete offence of bribery of a foreign public official in order to obtain or retain business, and a new offence in relation to commercial organisations which fail to prevent a bribe being paid by those who perform services for or on behalf of the organisation.
27.01.2010	Co-operative & Community Benefit Societies and Credit Unions Bill [HL] Bill No. 50
	The Bill requires new industrial and provident societies (other than credit unions) to be registered as co-operative or community benefit societies, re-names the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, and applies the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 to industrial and provident societies. The Bill also gives the Treasury powers to apply company law on the investigation of companies, company names and dissolution and restoration to the register, to industrial and provident societies, and to make provisions for credit unions corresponding to any provisions applying to building societies.
11.02.2009	Business Rate Supplements Bill: Committee Stage Report
	This is a report on the Committee Stage of the Business Rate Supplements Bill 2008-09, produced in response to a recommendation of the Modernisation Committee in its report on The Legislative Process (HC 1097, 2005-06).
02.06.2006	Company Law Reform Bill [HL] [Bill 190 of 2005-6]
01.03.2005	Health and Safety (Directors' Duties) Bill (Bill 22 of 2004/05)
	The Health and Safety (Directors' Duties) Bill. (Bill 22 of 2004/05). House of Commons Library Research Paper 05/18.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
26.07.2010	Mergers, acquisitions and takeovers: The takeover of Cadbury by Kraft.
	Government response. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report [Commons]
30.03.2010	Mergers, acquisitions and takeovers: the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft.
	Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report [Commons]
23.02.2010	Pub companies: follow-up.
	Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report [Commons]
24.11.2009	Any of our business? Human rights and the UK private sector.
	Human Rights Joint Select Committee report [Commons and Lords]
23.11.2009	The impact of the current economic and financial situation on businesses in the West Midlands region....
	Communities and Local Government; West Midlands Select Committee report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
15.11.2011	ACTION AID RESEARCH ON TAX HAVENS
	That this House is shocked to learn from Action Aid, the leading overseas aid organisation, the fact that 98 per cent. of the FTSE 100 listed companies use tax havens and that they ...
12.10.2011	ACTIONAID CAMPAIGN ON TAX HAVENS
	That this House congratulates ActionAid UK for compiling a database providing a comprehensive overview of the use of tax havens and potential tax avoidance by FTSE 100 companies; notes ...
14.09.2011	DEFENCE BUSINESS SERVICES
	That this House expresses profound concern at the proposed appointment of a commercial management company to partner Defence Business Services; believes that allowing a private sector ...
12.09.2011	ARGOS LTD
	That this House notes recent unfair criticism of Argos; believes that Argos is a great British company employing over 33,000 people and contributing 4.3 billion in sales to the UK economy, ...
30.06.2011	PERFORMANCE OF CO-OPERATIVES
	That this House notes with admiration the news that Britain's co-operative sector out-performed the wider UK economy in the past year in a boost for businesses owned by their employees ...

Lords Library Notes

Date	Description
19.04.2012	Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill [HL] (HL Bill 139 of 2010-12)
	This Library Note provides background information on the Sunday Trading (London Olympic and Paralympic Games) Bill due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 24 April 2012.
28.10.2011	Debate on 3 November: The Creative Industries
	This Library Note aims to provide background reading for the debate on the importance of the creative industries in the United Kingdom.