Companies (Millenium Computer Compliance)

House of Commons

Session 1997-98
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Companies (Millenium Computer Compliance)

This is the text of the Companies (Millenium Computer Compliance) Bill, as presented to the House of Commons on 29 July 1997.

Companies (Millenium Computer Compliance) Bill

ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES

Clause

1. Amendment of principal Act.

2. Citation.

A
B I L L
TO
Require companies to conduct an assessment of the capability of their computer systems to deal with calendar dates after 31st December 1999 and to report both on those assessments and on the actions their directors propose to take in consequence.
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

Amendment of principal Act.     1. - (1) The Companies Act 1985 shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In section 234(4), at the end, there shall be included the words " Part VII relates to a millennium computer assessment of the company".

    (3) After section 719 (Power of company to provide for employees on cessation or transfer of business), there shall be inserted the following section-

"Millennium computer assessment.     719A. - (1) It shall be the duty of every company in each financial year ending before 31st December 1999 to assess the capability of every computer system operated by the company and essential to the continued trading of the company and programmed to manipulate calendar dates to deal accurately with dates later than 31st December 1999 ("a millennium computer assessment").

    (2) In this section, "computer" and "computer system" shall be construed to include any means of processing instructions capable, when incorporated into a machine-readable medium, of causing a machine having information-processing capabilities to indicate, perform or achieve a particular function, task and result and will further include (without limitation to the foregoing) a semiconductor chip embedded within a machine."

    (4) In section 744A (Index of defined expressions), in the Table, there shall be inserted-

" computer and computer system section 719A".

    (5) In Schedule 7 (Matters to be dealt with in directors' report), there shall be included the following Part-

"PART VII

MILLENNIUM COMPUTER ASSESSMENT

13. - (1) This part of this Schedule applies to a report by the directors of a company for a financial year ending in 1998 or 1999 (a "relevant year").

    (2) The report shall with respect to a relevant year state-

(a) the outcome of the millennium computer assessment required under section 719A above; and

(b) the proposals of the directors (if any are necessary) to make reasonable efforts to ensure that every computer system operated by the company and essential to the continued trading of the company and which is programmed to manipulate calendar dates will be able to deal accurately with dates later than 31st December 1999."

Citation.     2. This Act may be cited as the Companies (Millennium Computer Compliance) Act 1998.

© Parliamentary copyright 1997
Prepared 20 November 1997