Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations
"The CEA has replaced the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and assumed its role in the investigation and enforcement of company law offences."
LITIGATION, DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND INVESTIGATIONS
Collective Litigation
The Irish Government has approved the drafting of legislation to transpose the EU Directive on Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers, which Ireland is required to transpose into law by 25 December 2022. The Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2022 is expected to come into effect from 25 June 2023. The Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment published its Report on the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Bill in December 2022. The publication of the Bill is awaited.
Further information is available here.
Individual Accountability Framework (IAF)
The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill should complete all remaining stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas in late January or early February 2023. We expect the IAF to come into force in Q4 2023, following a period of consultation by the Central Bank on draft regulations and guidance. The IAF reflects the central role that culture and conduct now have in the Irish financial services sector, and will present implementation challenges for regulated firms and senior individuals working within them.
For more information, see here.
Lobbying
The recent publication of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022 paves the way for the reform and strengthening of lobbying laws in Ireland through an expansion of the definition of lobbying, improvements to the functioning of the lobbying register functions and the enhancement of the enforcement regime. It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted and commence in the first half of 2023.
Further information is available here.
Corporate Enforcement Authority
Following the commencement of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 in July 2022, the new independent statutory authority, the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), is now tasked with investigating and prosecuting economic and white collar crime in Ireland. The CEA has replaced the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and assumed its role in the investigation and enforcement of company law offences.
In January 2023 the Corporate Enforcement Authority published its ‘early warning tools’ to assist in the identification of when a company is ‘likely to become insolvent’ under the new directors’ duty to have regard to the interests of creditors.
Further information is available here and here.
Third Party Funding in Arbitration
The Irish government are proposing to amend the Arbitration Act 2010 through the insertion of a new provision which will permit third-party funding in limited circumstances relating to international commercial arbitration.
"The IAF reflects the central role that culture and conduct now have in the Irish financial services sector, and will present implementation challenges for regulated firms and senior individuals working within them."