Changes may delay NIB report - Appleby

Publication of the High Court inspectors' report into National Irish Bank (NIB) may be delayed if the High Court decides to omit…

Publication of the High Court inspectors' report into National Irish Bank (NIB) may be delayed if the High Court decides to omit parts of the report prior to release.

Speaking at the publication of draft guidance plans for company directors in Dublin today, the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr Paul Appleby, said the practicalities of printing the amended reports would be the cause of any delay.

Yesterday, Mr Appleby told the High Court that he believed copies of the NIB report should be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Revenue Commissioners and various regulatory authorities in Ireland, Britain, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. NIB is owned by National Australia Bank.

The NIB report was given to the court on July 12th and only the judge and Mr Appleby have been given copies.

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The draft guidance plan will, according to Mr Appleby, assist directors in understanding what  information is required of them when producing company statements under the proposed Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003.
 
This act is due to come into force shortly. It will oblige directors of certain companies to prepare a Compliance Policy Statement and an Annual Compliance Statement for inclusion in the director's report.

All public limited companies and all private companies limited by shares whose turnover exceeds €15.23 million will be subject to these new obligations, said Mr Appleby.

The draft guidance plan was drawn up in conjunction with the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies Ireland, the Institute of Directors in Ireland, IBEC, and the Revenue Commissioners.

Mr Appleby said responses to the draft plan could be submitted to his office up until September 30th. These would be taken into account when drawing up the final guidance he said.