Access denied: defective request to view register of members leaves court powerless

In BCNO Ltd v Cooke [2026] EWHC 1263 (Ch), the High Court dismissed a company’s application for a ‘no-access’ order under section 117 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006).

The Court held that as the defendant’s underlying request to access information on the company’s register of members failed to meet the statutory requirements, it was invalid and did not constitute a ‘request under section 116’. This meant that the company had no obligation to comply with or challenge the request and the Court lacked the jurisdiction to make any orders protecting the company from this or future requests.

Access to the register of members: section 116 CA 2006