Companies Bill 2024

The Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024 (the Bill) was published on the Oireachtas website in late July and is expected to undergo the legislative procedure this autumn with a view to being commenced before the end of 2024.

The Bill is substantially in line with the general scheme for the Bill (General Scheme) that was published back in March 2024 – see our publication for our commentary on the General Scheme.

Helpful provisions from the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Covid-19) Act 2020 are being reintroduced on a permanent basis, including the ability of a company to hold hybrid or wholly virtual general meetings and for companies to execute documents in multiple parts. This will again enable documents under seal to be executed in different counterparts, with the aggregate of the documents to be considered as one instrument.

There are some notable absences in the Bill at this time when compared to the General Scheme. It is possible that these will be added later in the legislative process. Missing provisions include changes to the 48-hour time period for proxies and proposals to expand the powers of the Corporate Enforcement Authority to include powers of surveillance and data collection.

We will be monitoring the progress of this legislation in the coming months.