07/07/2022
Insights Blog

The new Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) has been established following the commencement of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 (Act). The CEA is tasked with investigating and prosecuting company law failures and replaces the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. The reforms introduced by the Act enhance the investigation and enforcement capability of the CEA and are expected to lead to an increase in enforcement activity around company law offences, as well as changes in the way that those failures are investigated. 

The Act also introduced a number of changes to the Companies Act.

You can read more in our briefings here and here.

“Today is a really important day for corporate enforcement in Ireland. The Corporate Enforcement Authority is now officially established. We’re giving it real teeth, making sure it has the autonomy and resources to thoroughly investigate suspected wrongdoing, such as fraudulent trading and larger, more complex company law breaches. We’re increasing staffing levels by nearly 50%, including doubling the number of Gardaí. The Authority’s budget has also been increased by almost 30%.”

Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar