The public consultation by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on proposals to enhance the Companies Act 2014 officially closes this week at 5:00 PM on Friday 9 June 2023. Submissions are invited from stakeholders and interested parties no later than this date.
There are several areas being consulted upon, which are too many to cover in this blog, but some of them include the:
- Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (COVID-19) Act, 2020;
- Corporate Governance;
- Obligations on examiners and interim examiners;
- Provisions to do with enhancing company law administration;
- Investigation of companies affairs by court appointed inspectors on the application of the company;
- Miscellaneous Company law administration matters to do with the Companies Registration Office.
Change the Audit Exemption Rules
In this blog, we want to concentrate on the proposals to change the audit exemption rules.
The proposal is that the audit exemption regime for small and micro companies should be amended to provide for a two-step graduated regime to deal with late filing, rather than automatic loss of audit exemption for two years, under the current rules.
The two step regime would operate as follows:
On the occasion of the first instance of late filing, and there would be no loss of audit exemption.
If there was a further instance of late filing within the following five years, late filing fees would be incurred and the entitlement to audit exemption would be lost for the following two financial years, with the company required to file audited financial statements for these years.
The consultation also includes a potential provision to enhance the deterrent effect for failure to deliver an annual return in time to allow that the court can request a contribution to a charity be made.
Another proposal allows for a strike off a company for failure to file details of the company secretary with the CRO.
There’s also provision to provide additional grounds for involuntary strike-off of companies by permitting the RBO Registrar to request that the CRO strike off a company for its ‘failure to comply with its obligation to file its beneficial owner details with the RBO
Make your voice heard and send your submissions. to the Department by 5:00 PM on 9 June 2023.
Please go to our website to see our:
- Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls & Procedures Manual (March 2022) – View the Table of Contents click here.
- AML webinar (March 2022) available here, which accompanies the AML Manual. It explains the current legal AML reporting position for accountancy firms and includes a quiz. Upon completion, you receive a CPD Certificate of attendance in your inbox.
- Letters of Engagement and similar templates. Please visit our site here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items if bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by e-mail at john@jmcc.ie.
We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
