A person meets the independence requirement for the purposes of section 1150 only if—
he is not—
an officer or employee of the company, or
a partner or employee of such a person, or a partnership of which such a person is a partner;
he is not—
an officer or employee of an associated undertaking of the company, or
a partner or employee of such a person, or a partnership of which such a person is a partner; and
there does not exist between—
the person or an associate of his, and
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.
An auditor of the company is not regarded as an officer or employee of the company for this purpose.
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 1152.
Regulations under this section are subject to negative resolution procedure.