894. (1) The Registrar may, as respects any document that has (whether pursuant to this Act or the prior Companies Acts) been received and recorded by the Registrar, destroy the document if the following conditions are satisfied—

(a) 6 or more years have elapsed after the date of its receipt by him or her, and

(b) its destruction is authorised by the Director of the National Archives under section 7 of the National Archives Act 1986,

but this is subject to subsection (2).

(2) Without prejudice to subsection (3), for so long as a company’s existence is recorded in the register, and for a period of 20 years after the date of its dissolution, the Registrar shall keep in electronic form a copy of every document that, in relation to that company, has been received and recorded (whether pursuant to this Act or the prior Companies Acts) by the Registrar and the keeping of such copy in that form shall be such as to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the data and that the data may be reliably accessed.

(3) On and from the expiry of 20 years after the date of its dissolution, a copy of every document kept, in relation to a company, by the Registrar under subsection (2), and in the form specified therein, shall be kept and maintained by the Registrar in an archival database comprising the records of companies, the length of the period of dissolution of which stands at 20 or more years.

(4) The means of keeping, in electronic form, the archival database referred to in subsection (3) shall be such as are, in the opinion of the Registrar (after consultation with the Director of the National Archives), best calculated to preserve and maintain the integrity of the data.