The inspectors appointed to National Irish Bank Limited and National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited, on application by the Minister under section 8 of the Companies Act 1990, presented their report to the High Court on 12 July 2004. The court furnished a copy of the report to the Director of Corporate Enforcement, as required by section 11 of the 1990 Act. The report was subsequently published on the order of the court. The court also ordered that a copy of the report be sent to relevant authorities, including the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the Revenue Commissioners and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Primary responsibility for follow up action on the matters raised in the report rests with the various statutory agencies.
Following the commencement of the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001, it is now the statutory responsibility of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to pursue the possible breaches of the Companies Acts identified in the report. The Act requires the director to perform his functions with respect to the Companies Acts on an independent basis. It is not, therefore, the practice of the director to report to me on any individual case or issue which is the subject of examination by his office. However, the director has emphasised his determination to take appropriate action on foot of the report.
The report further confirmed the concerns the Tánaiste and the Government had for some time about the extent to which companies and their officers complied with the requirements of company and other law. However, the Tánaiste did not wait for the completion of this or other reports before taking action to ensure that any regulatory failures coming within the Minister's area of responsibility were dealt with.
Within my area of responsibility, various initiatives have been taken in recent years to improve the regulatory framework. These include proactive enforcement of the provisions of company law by the establishment and resourcing of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement; increased penalties and additional resources to ensure companies meet their filing obligations with the Companies Registration Office; better oversight and regulation of the accounting and auditing profession by the proposed establishment of the Irish auditing and accounting supervisory authority; establishment of the company law review group on a statutory footing to ensure that the provisions of our company law are appropriate to the needs of Irish society; the introduction in the most recent Companies Act of new requirements on company directors of significant corporate entities to prepare an annual statement in respect of the company's compliance with company, tax and other key legislation.
The Government has also strengthened the regulation of the financial services sector in two Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Acts in 2003 and 2004, including the establishment of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.