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(1) The accounts of a company prepared and content under section 1 of the Companies Act 1976 shall °f accounts. comply with the requirements of Schedule 8 to this Act (so far as applicable) with respect to the form and content of the balance sheet and profit and loss account and any additional information to be provided by way of notes to the accounts. (2) Every balance sheet of a company so prepared shall give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of its financial year, and every profit and loss account of a company so prepared shall give a true and fair view of the profit or loss of the company for the financial year. A4 Companies Act 1981 (3) Subsection (2) above overrides the requirements of Schedule 8 to this Act and all other requirements of the Companies Acts 1948 to 1981 as to the matters to be included in a company’s accounts or in notes to those accounts ; and accordingly— (a) if a balance sheet or profit and loss account of a company drawn up in accordance with those requirements would not provide sufficient information to comply with that subsection, any necessary additional information must be provided in that balance sheet or profit and loss account or in a note to the accounts ; and (b) if, owing to special circumstances in the case of any company, compliance with any such requirement in relation to any balance sheet or profit and loss account of the company would prevent that balance sheet or profit and loss account from complying with that subsection (even if additional information were provided in accordance with paragraph (a) above) the directors of that company shall depart from that requirement in preparing that balance sheet or profit and loss account (so far as necessary in order to comply with that subsection). (4) Where the directors of any company depart from any such requirement in relation to the accounts of the company, particulars of that departure, the reasons for it and its effect shall be given in a note to the accounts. (5) This section, with the exception of subsections (6) and (8), shall not apply to any group accounts prepared by a company under section 1 of the Companies Act 1976 (taken with section 150 of this Act); and, subject to subsection (6) below, subsections (1) and (2) above shall not apply to a company’s profit and loss account (or require the notes otherwise required in relation to that account) if— (a) the company has subsidiaries ; and (b) the profit and loss account is framed as a consolidated profit and loss account dealing with all or any of the company’s subsidiaries as well as the company and— (i) complies with the requirements of this Act relating to consolidated profit and loss accounts ; and Companies Act 1981 c. 62 (ii) shows how much of the consolidated profit or loss for the financial year is dealt with in the accounts of the company. (6) Where in the case of any company advantage is taken of subsection (5) above that fact shall be disclosed in a note to the group accounts. (7) If any accounts of a company of which a copy is laid before the company in general meeting or delivered to the registrar of companies do not comply with the requirements of this section and with the other requirements of the Companies Acts 1948 to 1981 as to the matters to be included in or in a note to those accounts, every person who, at the time when the copy is so laid or delivered, is a director of the company shall be guilty of an offence and, in respect of each such offence, shall be liable— (a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine ; (b) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum ; but in any proceedings against a person for an offence under this section it shall be a defence for him to prove that he took all reasonable steps for securing compliance with the requirements in question. (8) For the purposes of this Act, except where the context otherwise requires— (a) any reference to a balance sheet or profit and loss account shall include any notes to the accounts in question giving information which is required by any provision of the Companies Acts 1948 to 1981 and required or allowed by any such provision to be given in a note to a company’s accounts ; and (b) any reference to a profit and loss account shall be taken, in the case of a company not trading for profit, as referring to its income and expenditure account, and references to profit or to loss, and if the company has subsidiaries, references to a consolidated profit and loss account shall be construed accordingly.” 8 to the 1948 Act shall be renumbered as 8A and the Schedule set out as Schedule 1 to this be inserted in the 1948 Act as Schedule 8. Companies Act 1981 152 of the 1948 Act shall be renumbered as 152A and the following section shall be inserted in section 152—