Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908

Registration of mortgages and charges in England and Ireland.

93.(1) Every mortgage or charge created after the first day of July nineteen hundred and eight by a company registered in England or Ireland and being either—

(a) a mortgage or charge for the purpose of securing any issue of debentures; or

(b) a mortgage or charge on uncalled share capital of the company; or

(c) a mortgage or charge created or evidenced by an instrument which, if executed by an individual, would require registration as a bill of sale; or

(d) a mortgage or charge on any land, wherever situate, or any interest therein; or

(e) a mortgage or charge on any book debts of the company; or

(f) a floating charge on the undertaking or property of the company,

shall, so far as any security on the company's property or undertaking is thereby conferred, be void against the liquidator and any creditor of the company, unless the prescribed particulars of the mortgage or charge, together with the instrument (if any) by which the mortgage or charge is created or evidenced, are delivered to or received by the registrar of companies for registration in manner required by this Act within twenty-one days after the date of its creation, but without prejudice to any contract or obligation for repayment of the money thereby secured, and when a mortgage or charge becomes void under this section the money secured thereby shall immediately become payable :

Provided that—

(i) in the case of a mortgage or charge created out of the United Kingdom comprising solely property situate outside the United Kingdom, the delivery to and the receipt by the registrar of a copy of the instrument by which the mortgage or charge is created or evidenced, verified in the prescribed manner, shall have the same effect for the purposes of this section as the delivery and receipt of the instrument itself, and twenty-one days after the date on which the instrument or copy could, in due course of post, and if despatched with due diligence, have been received in the United Kingdom, shall be substituted for twenty-one days after the date of the creation of the mortgage or charge, as the time within which the particulars and instrument or copy are to be delivered to the registrar; and

(ii) where the mortgage or charge is created in the United Kingdom but comprises property outside the United Kingdom, the instrument creating or purporting to create the mortgage or charge may be sent for registration notwithstanding that further proceedings may be necessary to make the mortgage or charge valid or effectual according to the law of the country in which the property is situate; and

(iii) where a negotiable instrument has been given to secure the payment of any book debts of a company, the deposit of the instrument for the purpose of securing an advance to the company shall not for the purposes of this section be treated as a mortgage or charge on those book debts; and

(iv) the holding of debentures entitling the holder to a charge on land shall not be deemed to be an interest in land.

(2) The registrar shall keep, with respect to each company, a register in the prescribed form of all the mortgages and charges created by the company after the first day of July nineteen hundred and eight and requiring registration under this section, and shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, enter in the register, with respect to every such mortgage or charge, the date of creation, the amount secured by it, short particulars of the property mortgaged or charged, and the names of the mortgagees or persons entitled to the charge.

(3) Where a series of debentures containing, or giving by reference to any other instrument, any charge to the benefit of which the debenture holders of that series are entitled pari passu is created by a company, it shall be sufficient if there are delivered to or received by the registrar within twenty-one days after the execution of the deed containing the charge or, if there is no such deed, after the execution of any debentures of the series, the following particulars :—

(a) the total amount secured by the whole series; and

(b) the dates of the resolutions authorising the issue of the series and the date of the covering deed, if any, by which the security is created or defined; and

(c) a general description of the property charged; and

(d) the names of the trustees, if any, for the debenture holders ;

together with the deed containing the charge, or, if there is no such deed, one of the debentures of the series, and the registrar shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, enter those particulars in the register :

Provided that, where more than one issue is made of debentures in the series, there shall be sent to the registrar for entry in the register particulars of the date and amount of each issue, but an omission to do this shall not affect the validity of the debentures issued.

(4) Where any commission, allowance, or discount has been paid or made either directly or indirectly by the company to any person in consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to subscribe, whether absolutely or conditionally, for any debentures of the company, or procuring or agreeing to procure subscriptions, whether absolute or conditional, for any such debentures, the particulars required to be sent for registration under this section shall include particulars as to the amount or rate per cent. of the commission, discount, or allowance so paid or made, but an omission to do this shall not affect the validity of the debentures issued :

Provided that the deposit of any debentures as security for any debt of the company shall not for the purposes of this provision be treated as the issue of the debentures at a discount.

(5) The registrar shall give a certificate under his hand of the registration of any mortgage or charge registered in pursuance of this section, stating the amount thereby secured, and the certificate shall be conclusive evidence that the requirements of this section as to registration have been complied with.

(6) The company shall cause a copy of every certificate of registration given under this section to be endorsed on every debenture or certificate of debenture stock which is issued by the company, and the payment of which is secured by the mortgage or charge so registered :

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a company to cause a certificate of registration of any mortgage or charge so given to be endorsed on any debenture or certificate of debenture stock which has been issued by the company before the mortgage or charge was created.

(7) It shall be the duty of the company to send to the registrar for registration the particulars of every mortgage or charge created by the company and of the issues of debentures of a series, requiring registration under this section, but registration of any such mortgage or charge may be effected on the application of any person interested therein.

Where the registration is effected on the application of some person other than the company, that person shall be entitled to recover from the company the amount of any fees properly paid by him to the registrar on the registration.

(8) The register kept in pursuance of this section shall be open to inspection by any person on payment of the prescribed fee, not exceeding one shilling for each inspection.

(9) Every company shall cause a copy of every instrument creating any mortgage or charge requiring registration under this section to be kept at the registered office of the company: Provided that, in the case of a series of uniform debentures, a copy of one such debenture shall be sufficient.