Twenty-five individuals were disqualified from acting as company directors during 2013, while a further 219 were restricted according to the latest annual report from the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE).
The ODCE also secured 17 criminal convictions in the District Court, together with two associated disqualification orders during the year.
The office received 252 complaints from members of the public, down from 337 in 2012, with 78 per cent of all its referrals coming liquidators’ reports.
The disqualification of 25 individuals, plus the restriction of a further three, were on foot of High Court applications made by the office. The restriction of 219 company directors, and the disqualification of a further nine, were on foot of liquidators' applications to the High Court, subsequent to the ODCE having scrutinised the underlying liquidators' reports. The Office also successfully secured the rectification of directors' loans issues to the value of € 62 million.
Referring to the recent conclusion of the Anglo trial which dealt with section 60 of the Companies Act 1963, director of corporate enforcement Ian Drennan said that it had been "enormously resource intensive", and that the Office's Anglo-related focus has now shifted to the remaining strands of investigation that resulted in files being submitted to the Office of the DPP.
“ Our highest priority in that regard now is to support the Office of the DPP in its prosecution of alleged breaches of section 197 of the Companies Act 1990, in respect of which a trial date has been set. Supporting a prosecution on indictment, including assisting the prosecution in meeting its disclosure and other obligations, is a major undertaking and, consequently, we can reasonably anticipate being involved in these matters for some considerable time to come – with consequential implications for our other workstreams.”
During 2013, the ODCE devised and implemented a set of high level “Enforcement Principles”. According to Mr Drennan, application of these will result in a more “consistent approach towards enforcement-related activity”, and will maximise the office’s effectiveness, given its limited resources.
With regards to criminal enforcement activity, Mr Drennan said that the application of these principles may likely “result in a gradual shift away from summary prosecutions in the District Court in favour of prosecutions on indictment”.
“Whilst the implications of such a change in direction are significant, successful outcomes would generally be expected to have a significantly greater deterrent effect.”
During 2013 the ODCE also made considerable efforts to conclude a number of strands of long running litigation, such as that relating to Bovale Developments, which resulted in the disqualification of that company’s directors for a period of seven years each.
