In 1948, the Board of Trade established two committees to advise it on administrative and accounting issues arising from the Companies Act. This study considers rivalries involved in establishing the committees. It then illustrates some of the issues put to the committees, beginning with matters relating to the recognition of auditors and showing inter alia how for 10 years the Board used unauthorized means to limit the recognition of unqualified accountants as company auditors. Other matters highlighted include shipping companies' exemptions, some aspects of “true and fair”, the valuation of films, football pools as exempt private companies and non-voting equity shares. It shows the Board's tendency to follow the committees' advice when it agreed with it, but to ignore it when it disagreed. It concludes by evaluating the success of the committees, showing also how many of the committees' discussions and recommendations anticipated issues subsequently considered by the Jenkins Committee.
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8.
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Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Peter Bennett and to two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.
