Legislation Published To Establish The ‘Corporate Enforcement Authority' As Stand-Alone Agency

The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, announced last week that the Government has approved the General Scheme of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill 2018 (the "Corporate Enforcement Authority Bill") for publication. Under the proposed legislation, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) is to be renamed the "Corporate Enforcement Authority" and is to be established as an independent statutory agency. This 'rebrand' of the ODCE was first flagged as a key element of the Government's package of measures aimed at combatting white collar crime in Ireland. In announcing the Corporate Enforcement Authority Bill, the Minister said: "By establishing the ODCE as a stand-alone agency, it will be better equipped to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law. The new Corporate Enforcement Authority will have more autonomy, particularly in terms of the ability to recruit specialist skills and expertise". It is planned that the new authority will have up to three full-time commissioners. The Government has set a deadline of the end of Q2 2019 for enacting the Corporate Enforcement Authority Bill.

As well as establishing the Corporate Enforcement Authority, the Corporate Enforcement Authority Bill proposes a number of technical amendments to Irish law to provide clarity in key areas, including in relation to corporate governance. The technical amendments are, largely restoring a number of provisions that were provided for in the Companies Act 1963-2013 and should have been carried across to the Companies Act 2014.

The Corporate Enforcement Authority Bill also reflects recommendations made by the Law Reform Commission in its recently published report* on Regulatory Powers and Corporate Offences (the "LRC Report"). The LRC Report focused primarily on regulatory powers and enforcement and corporate criminal liability and contains a comprehensive review of the law in Ireland and other jurisdictions on these topics. Reform of these areas is a key focus for the government as part of its ongoing response to the 2008 financial crisis.

The press release...

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