July date set for directors' compliance

The Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr Paul Appleby, said yesterday he is likely to recommend that new compliance statement obligations for the directors of certain types of companies be brought in no earlier than July 1st, 2005.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Michael Ahern, will decide when the measure will come into effect. He will be advised by Mr Appleby.

The employers' group IBEC yesterday welcomed Mr Appleby's statement and urged that the measure should not be introduced any earlier than January 2006. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland also welcomed Mr Appleby's statement.

The obligations will apply to all public limited liability companies, listed and unlisted, and to companies limited by shares with a turnover of more than €15.2 million or a balance sheet of more than €7.6 million.

The Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 provides for directors to prepare and publish a compliance policy statement and an annual compliance statement in their annual directors' report. The compliance statement will cover company, tax and certain other legislation that may materially affect the company's financial statements. The auditors of the affected companies will be required to publish their opinion of the validity of the statements.

In an address to the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland, Mr Appleby said one of the issues raised during consultation on the impending compliance obligations was the reporting obligations of directors where non-compliance was detected and/or remedied. He said he and his colleagues were working on this and other matters in the context of the guidance document his office would issue.