s 3
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the group accounts prepared by a holding company under section 1 of the Companies Act 1976 (taken with section 150 of this Act) shall comply with the requirements of Schedule 8 to this Act (so far as applicable to group accounts in the form in which those accounts are prepared) with respect to the form and content of those accounts and any additional information to be provided by way of notes to those accounts. (2) Those accounts (together with any notes to those accounts) shall give a true and fair view of the state of affairs and profit or loss of the company and the subsidiaries dealt with by those accounts as a whole, so far as concerns members of the company. (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 or in a note to group accounts prepared by a holding company ; and accordingly paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) and subsection (4) of section 149 of this Act shall apply in relation to the true and fair view required by subsection (2) above, with the substitution of references to the group accounts for references to the balance sheet or profit and loss account or the accounts of the company. (4) Where the financial year of a subsidiary does not coincide with that of the holding company, the group accounts shall, unless the Secretary of State on the application or with the consent of the holding company’s directors otherwise directs, deal with the subsidiary’s state of affairs as at the end of its financial year ending with or last before that of the holding company and with the subsidiary’s profit or loss for that financial year. (5) The Secretary of State may, on the application or with the consent of a company’s directors, modify the requirements of Schedule 8 to this Act as they have effect in relation to that company by virtue of subsection (1) above for the purpose of adapting them to the circumstances of the company; and references above in this section to the requirements of that Schedule shall be read in relation to that Companies Act 1981 c. 62 company as references to those requirements as so. modified.”.