Corporate
& Commercial
June
2004 - New Consumer Product Safety legislation in force.
On
the 4th May 2004 Regulations transposing the General Product Safety
Directive (95/2001) were enacted, replacing the previous regulations
dating from 1997. These Regulations have important implications
for manufacturers and distributors of consumer products.
Directors
and officers of corporate entities that are either manufacturers
or distributors of consumer products should be aware of the risk
of
individual prosecution in the case of breach of the Regulations
in
certain circumstances.
more
The
Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act, 2003 becomes law - Adding
to the Existing Corporate Compliance Regime
On
the 23rd December 2003 the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act,
2003 ("the Act") became law.
All
the provisions of the Act require the Minister for Enterprise Trade
and Employment ("the Minister") to specify in regulations
commencement dates before the provisions of the Act become effective
and, to date, no sections of the Act have commenced.
more
Company
Law - Compliance and Enforcement - An update
Company
directors and officers should be aware of the key provisions contained
in the Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001, as well as the new obligations
proposed by the Companies (Audit and Accountancy) (Amendment) Bill,
2002.
more
New
Merger Notification Regime comes into force
The
New Regime
The
new Merger Notification regime provided for under Part 3 of the
Competition Act, 2002 came into force on the 1st of January 2003.
more
Annual
Returns: Recent Changes in Irish Company Law
The Company Law Enforcement Act 2001 ("the Act") introduced
very important changes regarding the filing of annual returns and
audited accounts for companies. Considering the serious nature of
the sanctions for failure to comply with the Act and bearing in
mind to the powers vested in the Director of Corporate Enforcement,
all company officers need be aware of and must ensure compliance
with these new requirements.
more
Late
Payers Beware!
The
Late Payments Directive 2002, which will permit businesses to automatically
claim interest on "late payments" where an invoice is
not paid on the due date, was due to come into effect across the
EU on the 7th August 2002. The Directive states that payment of
an invoice is deemed to be late if it is not paid within 30 days
of the receipt of the invoice, or the goods, the service, or the
specified contract payment date. Suppliers will be entitled to interest
on late payments at the rate of 7% per annum above the European
Central Bank main refinancing rate, which is currently 10.25% per
annum.
more
Company
Law Enforcement Act, 2001
The
provisions of the Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001 ("the Act")
herald a new era in relation to corporate enforcement. Although
the Act became law on the 9th July 2001, it did not take effect
until the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment issued the
relevant regulations. The relevant Commencement Orders are S. I.
No. 391 of 2001, S. I. No. 438 of 2001, S. I. No. 523 of 2001 and
S. I. No. 524 of 2001.
more
Conversion
of Share Capital to Euros
As
a consequence of the enactment of the Economic and Monetary Union
Act, 1998 and the provisions of the EU Directives 1103/97 and 974/98
Irish corporates are obliged to convert their share capitals to
Euros. There is a transitionary period running from the 1st January
1999 to the 31st December 2001, during which period, Irish corporates
can voluntarily convert their share capital to Euros. As and from
the 1st January 2002, this conversion to Euros will be mandatory.
more
|
