Tories want more protection against animal rights activists

Plans to protect shareholders from having their information disclosed to protect them from animal rights extremists have been criticised by the Conservatives for not going far enough.

The Conservatives has put forward amendments to the Company Law Reform bill, stating that the current plans were inadequate, reports the Financial Times.

'They just haven't thought it through,' argued Conservative shadow trade and industry minister Jonathan Djanogly.

Current plans include plans to allow companies to withhold shareholder details for 'anything other than a fit and proper purpose', in relation to those holding less than 5% of shares.

But the Tories claimed that Companies House would still enable access to shareholder details, and warned about the cost on smaller companies for blocking potential repeated court orders if activists made numerous requests for information.

The Tories want individual shareholders to have the right to ensure their names and addresses are not disclosed.