(1)
An unlimited company shall be exempted from the requirements of section 422 of this Act as to documents to be annexed to the annual return if,—
(a)
at no time during the period to which the return relates has it been, to its knowledge, the subsidiary of a company that was then limited and at no such time, to its knowledge, have there been held or exercisable by or on behalf of two or more companies that were limited, shares or powers which, had they been held or exercisable by one of them, would have made the company its subsidiary ; and
(b)
at no such time has it been the holding company of a company that was then limited.
(2)
A small company is exempted from the requirements imposed by section 422 provided that it complies with the provision of section 394 of this Act.