The register of charges is not the same as the public register.

You should be aware that the court's power under these sections extends only to rectifying particulars on the register of charges.

The register of charges forms a discrete subset of the public register.

The law requires that details of most kinds of security interests are filed on the register of charges kept by Companies House.

Particulars of charges created by debenture are kept at the Companies Registry and in the company's register of charges.

The register of charges is open for public inspection and any person for a fee is entitled to a certified copy of it.

One of the most common requests we receive in our Mortgage section is to do with rectifying the particulars of a charge entered onto the register of charges.

The question remains as to whether the register of charges maintained by the Registrar of Companies accurately reflects the extent of the incumbrances on a company's property.

When the Registrar receives a properly delivered application to register a charge, he manually extracts and enters the prescribed particulars of charge onto the register of charges.

Neither the original filing nor the certificate of registration forms part of the register of charges and the court's jurisdiction under section 873 (or Section 888) does not extend to rectifying defects on either of these documents.

If the LLP issues debentures it must keep a register of debenture holders and if it enters into a charge it must keep a register of charges together with the instrument creating the charge.

Once the particulars are registered on the register of charges, the Registrar prepares and issues the certificate of registration and places a copy of the certificate and the original filing (the MG01 or equivalent) on the public register.

However the court cannot use this power to rectify where the court has other specific powers in the Act to deal with the matter, for example, under provisions of Part 15 relating to the revision of defective accounts, or sections 873 and 888 (rectification of the register of charges).

It is important to note that a company must itself maintain a register of charges which is more extensive than that maintained by the Registrar of Companies (since it covers all charges irrespective of type) but failure to register a charge in it does not invalidate the charge.

Most of the problems in this area have now been resolved by the requirement that undertakings by a company not to create subsequent charges having priority to an existing charge have to be registered in the company's register of charges and this will constitute notice to any person who is taking a charge which also has to be registered.

The broad effect of this is that a defect will normally be cured as against the administrator and liquidator (since unsecured creditors will not normally rely on the register of charges) but not against persons who acquire an interest (who will normally rely on the register of charges).