FORMS TO BE DELIVERED TO THE REGULATOR OF COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANIES
Strike off and dissolution of a community interest company
Before the Registrar of Companies can strike a community interest company off the register, a CIC must deliver to the Regulator of Community Interest Companies the following information:
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Background
Under s 53 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 a CIC is only allowed to cease being a CIC by dissolution or by converting to a charity, which means that once a company has become a CIC it cannot convert to an ordinary non charitable company.
Dissolution is fully explained in the Companies House booklet "Strike-off, Dissolution and Restoration". There are a number of different routes to dissolution, each with their own rules and procedures. A company may be struck off the register and dissolved if:
- it has applied to the Registrar to be struck off; or
- the Registrar concludes that it is not carrying on business or in operation – a defunct company.
Process
Before the Registrar strikes a company off the register, she must inquire whether it is still in business or operation. If she is satisfied that it is not, she will publish a notice in the London Gazette that she intends to strike the company off. A copy notice is placed on the company's public record. The Registrar will take into account representations from the company and other interested parties such as creditors. The Regulator will raise an objection to the striking off and will write to the community interest company for details of the distribution of assets prior to the company being dissolved. This is because community interest companies are subject to a statutory asset lock (see Chapter 6).The Regulator will ask the CIC for confirmation of whether, or not, the company has any assets and if so, will ask for details of how they will be distributed. A model form CIC 53 has been prepared to assist in providing this information.
The completed form CIC 53 must be returned to:
The Regulator of Community Interest Companies
Companies House
Crown Way
Maindy
Cardiff
CF14 3UZ