Registration of Changes in Partnerships.
" 9. (1) If during the continuance of a limited partnership any change is made or occurs in— (a) The firm name ; (b) The general nature of the business ; (c) The principal place of busi ness ; (d) The partners or the name of any partner ; (e) The term or character of the partnership ; (I) The sum contributed by any limited partner ; (g) The liability of any partner by reason of his becoming a limited instead of a general partner or a general instead of a limited partner a statement, signed by the firm, specifying the nature of the change shall within seven days be sent by post or delivered to the registrar at the register office in that part of the United Kingdom in which the partnership is registered.
" (2) If default is made in compliance with the requirements of this Section each of the general partners shall on con viction under the Summary Juris diction Acts he liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for each day during which the default continues.
Advertisement in Gazette.
10. (1) Notice of any arrangement or transaction under which any person will cease to be a general partner in any firm, and will become a limited partner in that firm, or under which the share of a limited partner in a firm will be assigned to any person, shall be forthwith advertised in the Gazette, and until notice of the arrangement or transaction is so advertised, the arrangement or trans action shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be of no effect.
(2) For the purposes of this Section, the expression ' the Gazette ' means :— In the case of a limited partnership registered in England, the London In the case of a limited partnership registered in Scotland, the Edinburgh Gmzette ; In the case of a limited partnership registered in Ireland, the Drf/dfn Registration.
" 13. On receiving any statement made i pursuance of this Act the registrar shall cause the same to be filed, and he shall send by post to the firm from xvlioni such statement shall have been received a certificate of the registration thereof.
" 14. At each of the register offices herein after referred to the registrar shall keep, in proper books to be provided for the purpose, a register and an ind.x of all the limited partnerships registered as aforesaid, and of all the statements registered in relation to such partnerships.
" 15. The registrar of joint stock com panies shall be the registrar of limited part nerships, and the several offices for the registration of joint stock companies in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin shall be the offices for the registration of limited partnerships carrying on business within those parts of. the United Kingdom in which they are respectively situated.
" 16. (1) Any person may inspect the statements filed by the registrar in the register offices aforesaid, and there shall be paid for such inspec tion such fees as may be appointed by the Board of Trade, not exceeding one shilling for each inspection ; and any person may require a certificate of the registration of any limited partnership, or a copy of or extract from any registered statement, to be certified by the registrar, and there shall be paid for such certificate of registration, certified copy, or ex tract such fees as the Board of Trade may appoint, not exceeding two shillings for the certificate of regis tration, and not exceeding sixpence for each folio of seventy-two or in Scotland for each sheet of two hundred words.
" (2) A certificate of registration, or a copy of or extract from any statement registered under this Act, if duly certified to be a true copy under the hand of the registrar or one of the assistant registrars (whom it shall not be necessary•to prove to be the registrar or assistant registrar) shall, ' in all legal proceedings, civil or criminal, and in all cases whatsoever he received in evidence." It should be noted that Section 6 says that a limited partner shall not take part in the management of the partnership business, and shall not have power to bind the firm. The Section does not definitely say that he must not draw cheques upon the banking account of the firm, but it is probably safe to infer that he has no power to operate upon the account. At any rate bankers are not likely to regard a limited partner as having such authority.
The same Section says that a limited partner may at any time inspect the books of the firm. In a paper read before the tute of Bankers by H. E. Gallaher, I,L.B., in 1908, he said, with reference to this subject :— " Another interesting question is whether a limited partner is entitled to information from the firm's banker as to the condition of their account, the amount of the cash bal ance, or the securities held by the bank for the firm. In view of the provision that a limited partner may inspect the books of the firm and examine into the state and prospects of the partnership business, I am inclined to think a banker would be justified in giving information of this character to a limited partner. f do not think, however, that a ' limited partner would be entitled to require the delivery to himself of the firm's pass book. Of course, where the banker can obtain the concurrence of all the general and limited partners as to the course to be adopted when a limited partner desires to borrow the pass book or to be informed of the position of the firm's accounts, this is by far the most satis factory way of dealing with the matter." It may be difficult, in some cases, for a banker to know whether a person is a limited or general partner. If he cannot. obtain reliable information from the partners them selves, he may inspect the register or obtain extracts therefrom (see Section 16 above). (See COMPANIES, PARTNERSHIPS.)