Rights of minority Shareholder

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone can give me some advice ? I have a minority shareholder (20%) who is not active in any way in the company. He has recently requested financial accounts going back to 2008.

My question is ; (a) is he entitled to immediate access to books on his request and (b) can he force an audit of books ( based on little but malace ? )

Thanks for your assistance,

Thanks Rambler1,, appriciate your reply on this. Another question if I may,,, if a minority shareholder forces an audit,,, who is responsible for the cost of audit ? Common sense could dictate that the person calling the audit would carry the costs but of course much of the dealings of disgruntled shareholders seem to lack common sense !! Is the entitlements for an audit based only on current finanaicl year or how far back can they go ? We fear that a shareholder will waste a lot of time and money as he is making a play for us to purchase his shares at an over-inflated price,,

Thanks again in advance,