The Corporate Enforcement Authority(CEA) has published its first annual report for period July 2022 to December 2023.
The Corporate Enforcement Authority was established in July 2022 and took over the role of the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) following the commencement of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021.
The report sets out their first 18 months of operating as a stand-alone unit and the work they have carried out during this time.
The CEA is setting out to establish its presence as an impartial source of information by issuing nine guidance documents and five information notes throughout the year and hosting fifty-one events and exhibitions to make the public aware of the agency including speaking for CPDStore.
The three core pillars that the organisation has focused on during its first 18 months are:
- embedding governance structures, building operational capability, and establishing presence,
- effective advocacy and influencing, and
- operating effective systems of proportionate, robust, and dissuasive enforcement.
Non-Compliance And Enforcement
The CEA takes a graduated approach towards indications of less serious non-compliance with company law and will work with the officers of impacted companies where possible without resorting to use of their statutory powers.
In cases and situations where this is not possible or appropriate the CEA will look towards more serious enforcement, examples of such during the period include;
- obtaining and executing over 100 court orders for the purposes of compelling the production of documents,
- executed 5 search warrants,
- over 200 witness statements were taken,
- 12 arrests were made,
- 9 Voluntary Cautioned Interviews took place,
- 4.1 Million files were made electronically available to investigators,
- Two individuals were convicted of criminal indictment, and
- Court orders were obtained to restrain bank accounts containing several thousand euros from being dissipated during the course of their investigations.
As noted previously the CEA has the power to prosecute persons for non-compliance with company law and during the period covered by the annual return;
- 12 files were sent to the DPP
- 1 sentence was reviewed
- Convictions were secured in relation to:
- Providing false information, and
- Failing to keep proper books of account
Restriction and disqualification of directors has also been an area of focus for the CEA and 80 company directors were restricted together with a further 17 being disqualified.
Based on analysis of the 1021 received liquidator reports, a further 10 directors were disqualified for failure to file the required returns with the CRO.
Complaints
The CEA’s enforcement work is primarily reactive and the sources of such information often come from;
- complaints from members of the public,
- protected disclosures,
- statutory reports,
- referrals from the corporate insolvency supervision process, and
- referrals from other statutory agencies.
During the period the CEA received;
- 454 Complaints,
- 22 Protected Disclosures, and
- 239 Indictable Offence Reports
From the 454 Complaints received, the best common issues include;
- 8% AGM/EGM
- 6% Register of Members
- 8% Falsified Documents/CRO Filings
- 9% Address Issues
- 7% Director’s Responsibilities
- 9% Allegations of Fraud/ Reckless Trading
- 10% Liquidation Issues
For further information on CEA Annual report please visit here.
If you have any questions, or if you require any assistance, please get in touch with the OmniPro Corporate Consultants Team on 053 910 0000.
The contents of this article are meant as a guide only and are not a substitute for professional advice. The author/s accept no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, as a result of the material contained in this document. Specific advice should be obtained before acting or refraining from acting, in connection with the matters dealt with in this article.
