Section 344 | Independence requirement

(1)A person may not be appointed as an independent assessor—

(a)if he is—

(i)an officer or employee of the company, or

(ii)a partner or employee of such a person, or a partnership of which such a person is a partner;

(b)if he is—

(i)an officer or employee of an associated undertaking of the company, or

(ii)a partner or employee of such a person, or a partnership of which such a person is a partner;

(c)if there exists between—

(i)the person or an associate of his, and

(ii)the company or an associated undertaking of the company,

a connection of any such description as may be specified by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(2)An auditor of the company is not regarded as an officer or employee of the company for this purpose.

(3)In this section—

“associated undertaking” means—

(a)a parent undertaking or subsidiary undertaking of the company, or

(b)a subsidiary undertaking of a parent undertaking of the company; and

“associate” has the meaning given by section 345.

(4)Regulations under this section are subject to negative resolution procedure.