Companies Acts must be reformed to protect consumers

In the light of all the shotgun liquidations and winding-up of companies, our supine fovernment needs to urgently amend the Companies Acts to protect consumers from companies that continue to trade right up to the last day and take peoples’ money.

The Companies Acts are a haven for rogue companies that create a situation where they intend to default to their customers, creditors, or revenue, by design, and in more cases, all three.

Legislation should be enacted that makes it a criminal offence for any company to trade up to the last minute before the doors close for good, whether the winding-up is genuine or bogus.

And they should be prevented from doing so for at least two months before they close, or longer.

No company, limited or otherwise, should be allowed to wind up voluntarily, or otherwise, without leave from a court.

The liability of directors and secretaries should be enhanced for any duties of the company when the company is in trouble, and made vicarious in the event of malfeasance.

The Companies Acts should do far more to protect consumers and others owed money, by obliging firms to post notice of when they are ceasing trading the very moment they are aware that they are in liquidation or voluntary winding-up, and post such notice on their premises, and on at least one national newspaper inadvance of the winding-up or liquidation.

All proposed windings-up in any form should first be submitted to the Office of Corporate Enforcement, then to the Revenue Commissioners, and then submitted to the courts for approval, given the stakes that are involved these days.

No company should be considered wound up until all three steps have been taken.

The Companies Acts are well and truly out of date, and most of their major provisions go all the way back to the 1960s, and need major revision and ongoing review.

There is undoubtedly crass and endemic exploitation of company laws which leaves many people in the lurch, with consequent damage to the economy and taxpayer. Corporate responsibility is a must and will provide a more stable Irish economy, ripe for investment in a country of decline!

Maurice Fitzgerald

Shanbally

Co Cork