AC Audio

In our latest Company Law: Back to Basics episode, Suzanne Kearney and Dr Tom Courtney discuss 'Piercing the Corporate Veil'. They discuss the benefits of a company having separate legal personalities, while also identify the areas of risk reflecting on the rare case when the corporate veil is pierced and the court overrides the principle of separate legal personalities.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

In this episode, Maedhbh Clancy, Of Counsel in our Finance Group and Sarah Thompson, Partner in our Financial Regulation Group, discuss the new Individual Accountability Framework, one of the most significant changes to financial services regulation in many years, and give an overview of the key pillars of the framework.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

In this episode, Ian Duffy, Partner, Technology and Innovation, is joined by Ciara Anderson, Senior Associate, to discuss the incoming Digital Operational Resilience Act or DORA and the Network and Information Systems Directive Number 2 or NIS 2.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance factors have recently become a hot topic in the financial services and indeed in the pensions industry. But what are the legal obligations on trustees of occupational pension schemes in relation to considering ESG factors and implementing ESG decisions and is ESG here to stay?

In this audio briefing, Sarah McCague, partner, and Katie Lawless, Associate, talk about pensions and Environmental, Social and Governance factors known as ESG, whether pension schemes trustees have to consider ESG when investing, the interaction between ESG and IORP II legislation, Trustees’ fiduciary duties and ESG investment.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

The Companies Act 2014 has recently been amended, requiring for the first time in statute that directors of companies, unable, or likely to be unable, to pay their debts must have regard to the interests of creditors.

In this episode, Suzanne Kearney, Of Counsel in the Corporate and M&A Department in Arthur Cox, and Tom Courtney, Partner, discuss Directors’ Duties, what these duties are and what they mean for companies and their directors. They will also discuss the most recent development in this area - the new statutory duty to have regard to the interests of the company’s creditors.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

As many of our listeners will already be aware, the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 was signed into law last December and was recently commenced. This Act introduces significant structural reform to the corporate crime enforcement regime in Ireland by amending the Companies Act 2014 to establish an independent statutory authority, namely the Corporate Enforcement Authority replacing the current Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, or ODCE, within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Today, Suzanne Kearney, Of Counsel in the Corporate and M&A Department in Arthur Cox and Tom Courtney, Partner at Arthur Cox are joined by Joanelle O’Cleirigh, Partner in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations Department at Arthur Cox to discuss some observations on how the new Authority is likely to impact the enforcement of company law for companies and in particular for company directors.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act, 2021 was signed into law in July 2021. Just last month, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth made regulations requiring certain employers to publish information in relation to the gender pay gap in their organisations. In addition, employers will be required to publish the measures taken by them to eliminate or reduce the gender pay gap. With the spotlight being shone on different levels of pay between men and women in the workplace, should similar consideration be given to differing levels of pensions coverage in the workplace?

Sarah McCague, Partner, Pensions, is joined by Daniel Watters, Associate, Pensions, to discuss the gender pensions gap, what the law says on the topic and whether the advent of auto-enrolment is likely to improve the situation.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

In this ‘Back to Basics’ episode, Suzanne Kearney, Of Counsel in the Corporate and M&A Department in Arthur Cox, is joined by Aisling Carey, Professional Support Lawyer in the Corporate and M&A Department in Arthur Cox and Tom Courtney, Partner in Arthur Cox, to discuss Section 239 and Transactions with Directors and Connected Persons.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

On 29 March 2022, the Department of Social Protection published the Final Design Principles for the introduction of a pensions auto-enrolment system in Ireland. The aim of auto-enrolment is to “change the Irish pensions system from one where employers may, or may not, make provision for a workplace pension scheme to one where every worker will have access to a workplace pension”. Even though proposals for auto-enrolment have been around since the 2000’s, Ireland has somehow managed to remain the only OECD country without any form of auto-enrolment system. With the publication of the Final Design Principles, will that all change and what are the consequences for existing pension schemes?

In this episode, Sarah McCague, Partner in the Pensions Group, and Philip Smith, Head of the Pensions Group in Arthur Cox will be talking about some of the key features of the proposed new auto-enrolment system and what it will mean for employers and the trustees of existing occupational pension schemes.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.

The Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohue TD, published the long-awaited General Scheme of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2021 in July of last year. As expected, the individual accountability framework will include ​a new senior executive accountability regime (SEAR) under which regulated financial services providers (RFSPs) and senior managers within those RFSPs will clearly frame where responsibility and decision-making rests within their organisation.

In this audio briefing, Louise O'Byrne, Partner in the Employment Law Group at Arthur Cox is joined by Rachel Morgan, Managing Associate in the Employment team and Brenton Pollard, Managing Associate, Financial Regulation Group, of Linklaters LLP. Rachel and Brenton will share their experiences and insights into the equivalent UK scheme, the SMCR.

Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are to assist access to information and do not constitute legal or other advice. Specific advice should be sought in relation to specific cases. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our team or your usual Arthur Cox contact.