(1) It is the duty of the directors of a public company to take all reasonable steps to secure that the secretary (or each joint secretary) of the company -
(a) is a person who appears to them to have the requisite knowledge and experience to discharge the functions of secretary of the company, and
(b) has one or more of the following qualifications.
(2) The qualifications are -
(a) that he has held the office of secretary of a public company for at least three of the five years immediately preceding his appointment as secretary;
(b) that he is a member of any of the bodies specified in subsection (3);
(c) that he is a barrister, advocate or solicitor called or admitted in any part of the United Kingdom;
(d) that he is a person who, by virtue of his holding or having held any other position or his being a member of any other body, appears to the directors to be capable of discharging the functions of secretary of the company.
(3) The bodies referred to in subsection (2)(b) are -
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