The Companies (Accounting) Bill 2016 (the “Bill”) was published on 5 August 2016. The primary purpose of the Bill is to transpose the Accounting Directive 2013, which provides significant simplifications and reductions of administrative burdens with regard to the preparation of financial statements. Once enacted, the Bill will amend and supplement the Companies Act 2014 in a number of aspects. The Bill also proposes to amend the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011 (“UCITS Regulations”) and the European Union (Alternative Investment Fund Managers) Regulations 2013 (“AIFMD Regulations”) as follows:

UCITS Regulations

• Section 91 of the Bill amends the UCITS Regulations by inserting a new Regulation 42A, which provides that UCITS investment companies formed under the Companies Act are obliged to file financial statements and directors’ reports with the Registrar of Companies.
• Regulation 93 will be substituted to take account of changes in EU law (namely the Statutory Audit Directive/Regulation). The new Regulation 93 sets out that the accounts should be audited in accordance with the Statutory Audit Directive and extends the provisions of section 336 of the Companies Act, 2014 (statutory auditors’ report) to UCITS.

AIFMD Regulations

• Section 92 of the Bill amends the AIFMD Regulations, by inserting a new paragraph 4(A) after Regulation 23 (4) such that the auditors’ report should comply with s336 of the Companies Act, 2014 and the Statutory Audit Regulations 2016.

The Bill is expected to move through the legislative process once the Dáil and Seanad resume in late September.

Contributed by Audrey Giles