Thursday, 14th December, 2006: Minister Michael Ahern TD, Minister for Trade & Commerce has signed into law Statutory Instrument 619 of 2006 (‘Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 (Prescribed Bodies for Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2006’). The legal effect of the Regulations is to permit the Irish Auditing & Accounting Supervisory Authority to disclose information – that would otherwise be confidential – to certain organisations specified in the Regulations. This is effected by adding to the parties with whom the Authority may currently share information pursuant to the provisions of section 31 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act, 2003.
Such disclosure is only permissible in circumstances where information:
I. is, in the Authority’s opinion, connected with the functions of those organisations; and
II. is disclosed directly to those organisations.
The organisations prescribed in the Regulations are EU and international bodies charged with functions similar to those discharged by the Authority, particularly in the areas of oversight of the accountancy profession and financial statement review. The practical effect of the Regulations will, therefore, be to enhance the Authority’s ability to co-operate with its EU and international counterparts. The text of the Regulations can be accessed here.