Maurice Quinlivan
Ceist:387. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the effectiveness of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. [11903/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 20 March 2018
Ceisteanna (387)
Freagraí scríofa
The ODCE has played and continues to play an important role in facilitating compliance and enforcement of company law.
There have been a number of successful high profile prosecutions over the past two years, on foot of investigations undertaken by the ODCE and the subsequent directing of charges on indictment by the DPP:
- on 21 December 2016, a former Director of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc entered a plea of guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of fraudulent trading contrary to section 297 of the Companies Act 1963 (as amended);
- on 21 December 2016, a former Director of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc entered a plea of guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of failing to maintain a register of certain transactions involving directors and others contrary to section 44 of the Companies Act 1990 (as amended); and
- on 27 July 2017, a person entered a plea of guilty before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court to one count of fraudulent trading contrary to section 297 of the Companies Act 1963 (as amended).
The ODCE Annual Report for 2016 points to a number of key successes during the year, as follows:
- Following the examination of reports submitted to the Office by liquidators of insolvent companies, 90 company directors were restricted and 11 disqualified by the High Court;
- 93 Restriction Undertakings were obtained from directors of insolvent companies;
- As an alternative to formal enforcement actions, cautions issued to a total of 61 companies;
- The securing of the rectification on a non-statutory basis, of suspected infringements of the Companies Act 2014, in relation to Directors’ loans in 60 cases, to an aggregate value of €17m approximately;
- 108 directions were issued to relevant parties requiring them to comply with their statutory obligations under company law;
- The submission of 5 investigation files to the DPP for consideration, with recommendations including charges under both company law and the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
Figures in respect of the 2017 ODCE Annual Report are being compiled at present and the report will be laid before the Houses before 30th June.
Since his appointment in 2012, the Director of Corporate Enforcement has demonstrated his commitment to reforming the Office, to enhancing the capability of the Office to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law and to amending the investigative procedures used by the Office. These reforms include:
- Reorganising the structures of the Office;
- Recruiting additional expertise, including six forensic accountants, a digital forensic specialist and 2 Enforcement Portfolio Managers;
- As senior-level vacancies have arisen, reconfiguration of the skill sets, competencies, roles and responsibilities associated with those posts in order to better reflect the organisation’s needs;
- Fundamentally amending the investigative procedures used by the Office so that members of an Garda Síochana take the lead in all criminal investigations; and
- Fostering a greater culture of risk management.
To build on reforms already achieved, ongoing reform continues within the ODCE, including the ongoing recruitment of professional expertise – the recruitment of 2 Forensic Accountants and 2 Enforcement Lawyers is underway - and the establishment, as announced by Government last November, of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement as an agency, to provide it with greater autonomy and ensure it is better equipped to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law.