Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Government Stock Regulations 1965. The amendments made by regulations 3–7 relate to strips of Government stock or bonds and make provision—

• for the keeping of registers of strips (regulations 3 and 6(a));

• for strips to be transferable only through the CGO Service (regulation 4);

• for the Exchange of Securities (General) Rules 1979 not to apply to the exchange of stock for strips or the exchange of strips for stock (regulations 5 and 6(b)); and

• extending the definition of stock to include strips for the purposes of the 1965 Regulations (except in certain cases), and defining “strip” for the purpose of those Regulations (regulations 6(c) and (d) and 7).

The other amendments take into account recent changes in Scots law. The amendments to regulation 14 of the 1965 Regulations reflect the reform of Scots law relating to legal capacity and age, whereby a person of sixteen years or more now has legal capacity to enter into any transaction. The amendments also take account of the fact that Scots law no longer makes a distinction between minors and pupils, in that a person under the age of sixteen years generally does not have legal capacity. Moreover, a person entitled to act as a child’s legal representative (within the meaning of Part I of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) now has the powers and duties which a tutor previously had in relation to a pupil. These amendments to Scots law were made by the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 (c. 50) and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

The amendments made to regulation 16 of the 1965 Regulations reflect the changes made to Scots law by the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, regarding the subscription of writings where the granter is blind or unable to write.