COMPANIES ACT, 1020 
733 
(5) If any person acts, or incites, causes or procures any person 
to act, in contravention of this section, he shall be liable to imprison- 
ment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding 
two hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine, and in 
the case of a second or subsequent offence to imprisonment for a 
term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not exceeding five 
hundred pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine. 
(6) Where a person convicted of an offence under this section is 
a company (whether a company within the meaning of this Act or 
not), every director and every officer concerned in the management 
of the company shall be guilty of the like offence unless he proves 
that the act constituting the offence took place without his knowledge 
or consent, 
(7) In this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the 
expression ‘‘shares’”’ means the shares of a company, whether a 
company within the meaning of this Act or not, and includes 
debentures and units, and the expression “unit” means any right 
or interest (by whatever name called) in a share, and for the purposes 
of this section a person shall not in relation to a company be regarded 
as not being a member of the public by reason only that he is a 
holder of shares in the company or a purchaser of goods from the 
companv. 
(8) Where any person is convicted in England of having made 
an offer in contravention of the provisions of this section, the court 
before which he is convicted may order that any contract made as a 
result of the offer shall be void, and, where it makes any such order, 
may give such consequential directions as it thinks proper for the 
repayment of any money or the retransfer of any shares. 
Where the court makes an order under this subsection (whether 
with or without consequential directions) an appeal against the order 
and the consequential directions. if any. shall lie to the High Court. 
Aall 
TISCELLANEOUS. 
Prohibition of Partnerships with more than Twenty Members 
oo: 
357. No company, association, or partnership consisting of more 
than twenty persons shall be formed for the purpose of carrying on 
any business (other than the business of banking) that has for its 
object the acquisition of gain by the company, association, or 
partnership, or by the individual members thereof, unless it is 
registered as a company under this Act, or is formed in pursuance of 
some other Act of Parliament, or of letters patent, or is a company 
engaged in working mines within the stannaries and subject to the 
jurisdiction of the court exercising the stannaries jurisdiction 
Prohibition of 
partnerships 
with more than 
twentv members