The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 (the “Act”) was signed into law on 22 December 2021 paving the way for the establishment of a new independent statutory authority, the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), tasked with investigating and prosecuting economic and white collar crime in Ireland.

As outlined in our previous briefing, the Act will introduce significant structural reform to the corporate enforcement regime in Ireland with the CEA due to replace the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) and assume its role in the investigation and enforcement of corporate crime.

We await the commencement of the Act which is expected in January 2022 and will update you on further developments.

If you would like to discuss the Act and its implications in more detail, please get in touch with any member of our Corporate Crime Group.