(2)  Where the financial year of a holding company that is not a foreign company and that of each of its subsidiaries coincide, the directors of the holding company shall at all times take such steps as are necessary to ensure that, without the consent of the Registrar, the financial year of the holding company or any of its subsidiaries is not altered so that all such financial years do not coincide.

(2A)  Notwithstanding subsection (1) or (2), the financial year of a subsidiary which is a foreign company shall end on a date which is —

(3)  Where the directors of the holding company are of the opinion that there is good reason why the financial year of any of its subsidiaries should not coincide with the financial year of the holding company, the directors may apply in writing to the Registrar for an order authorising any subsidiary to continue to have or to adopt (as the case requires) a financial year which does not coincide with that of the holding company.

(4)  The application shall be supported by a statement by the directors of the holding company of their reasons for seeking the order.

(5)  The Registrar may require the directors who make an application under this section to supply such information relating to the operation of the holding company and of any corporation that is deemed by virtue of section 6 to be related to the holding company as he thinks necessary for the purpose of determining the application.

(6)  The Registrar may at the expense of the holding company of which the applicants are directors request any public accountant to investigate and report on the application.

(7)  The Registrar may rely upon any report obtained pursuant to subsection (6) from the public accountant.

(8)  The Registrar may make an order granting or refusing the application or granting the application subject to such limitations, terms or conditions as he thinks fit and shall serve the order on the holding company.

(9)  Where the applicants are aggrieved by any order made by the Registrar, the applicants may within 2 months after the service of the order upon the holding company appeal against the order to the Minister.

(10)  The Minister shall determine the appeal and in determining the appeal may make any order that the Registrar had power to make on the original application and may exercise any of the powers that the Registrar might have exercised in relation to the original application.

(11)  Where the directors of a holding company have applied to the Registrar for an order authorising any subsidiary to continue to have a financial year which does not coincide with that of the holding company, the operation of subsection (1) shall be suspended in relation to that subsidiary until the determination of the application and of any appeal arising out of the application.

(12)  Where an order is made authorising any subsidiary to have a financial year which does not coincide with that of the holding company, compliance with the terms of the order of the Registrar, or where there has been an appeal, compliance with the terms of any order made on the determination of the appeal shall be deemed to be a compliance with subsection (1) in relation to that subsidiary but where an application for such an order and the appeal, if any, arising out of that application are refused, the time within which the directors of the holding company are required to comply with subsection (1) in relation to that subsidiary shall be deemed to be the period of 12 months after the date upon which the order of the Registrar is served on the holding company or the period of 12 months after the determination of the appeal, as the case may be.

(13)  Where the directors of a holding company have applied to the Registrar for an order authorising any of its subsidiaries to continue to have or to adopt a financial year which does not coincide with that of the holding company and the application and the appeal, if any, arising out of that application, have been refused, the directors of the holding company shall not make a similar application with respect to that subsidiary within 3 years after the refusal of the application or where there is an appeal after the determination of that appeal unless the Registrar is satisfied that there has been a substantial change in the relevant facts or circumstances since the refusal of the former application or the determination of the appeal, as the case may be.