Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024

24th July 2024 | Bills

The Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024 has been initiated in Dáil Eireann. The policy objective of this Bill is to enhance and amend the legislative framework provided by the Companies Act 2014 in the areas of governance, administration, insolvency, enforcement, and supervision.

It will do this by, among other things, making permanent the provisions giving companies and industrial and provident societies the option to hold fully virtual general meetings; amending the audit exemption regime for small and micro companies to remove automatic loss of exemption and by facilitating improved operational efficiencies and enhancing the powers of the CRO, IAASA and the CEA. It also addresses recommendations of the CLRG in respect of enhanced transparency and accountability in receiverships, corporate governance, and administration around mergers in certain circumstances and certain technical and procedural matters relating to public limited companies. It also includes various technical and procedural amendments to improve the operation of the Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP).

The Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024 provides the legislative basis to:

enable companies to avail of a more modern and flexible way of doing business – holding fully virtual general meetings
assist small and micro companies by removing the automatic loss of the audit exemption in respect of their first instance of late filing with the CRO and replace it with a graduated regime – saving time and money for thousands of Irish companies
ensure the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) and the Companies Registration Office (CRO) who have important roles in respect of company oversight, supervision, regulation, protection, and enforcement have the appropriate legislative tools to effectively undertake their statutory functions

Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024

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