# Companies Act 2006, Section 670: Public companies: general rule against lien or charge on own shares


(1) A lien or other charge of a public company on its own shares (whether taken expressly or otherwise) is void, except as permitted by this section.
(2) In the case of any description of company, a charge is permitted if the shares are not fully paid up and the charge is for an amount payable in respect of the shares.
(3) In the case of a company whose ordinary business—
(a) includes the lending of money, or
(b) consists of the provision of credit or the bailment (in Scotland, hiring) of goods under a hire-purchase agreement, or both,
a charge is permitted (whether the shares are fully paid or not) if it arises in connection with a transaction entered into by the company in the ordinary course of that business.
(4) In the case of a company that has been re-registered as a public company, a charge is permitted if it was in existence immediately before the application for re-registration.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/670 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/companies-act-2006/section-670
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.