The CEA publishes its First Annual Report
The Corporate Enforcement Authority (“CEA”), which replaced the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, has published its first Annual Report since it was established in July 2022. The CEA press release and full report can be accessed here.
Of note, in the first 18 months of its existence, the CEA:
- secured the restriction of 80 company directors and the disqualification of a further 27 company directors;
- secured 107 court orders and 5 search warrants, took 213 witness statements, and effected 12 arrests; and,
- submitted 12 files to the Director of Public Prosecutions and secured criminal convictions in respect of failing to keep proper books of account and providing false information.
This emphasises the importance of a director fulfilling his/her statutory duties under the Companies Act 2014 (the “CA2014”) and ensuring his/her company’s compliance with the CA2014. Extended investigative powers of the CEA are amongst the proposed provisions included within the General Scheme of the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024, so it will be interesting to see how the work of the CEA evolves if these measures are enacted, as proposed.
