Company law organisations

Companies Registration Office 

General

The Irish Companies Registration Office (CRO) is the central repository of public statutory information on Irish companies and business names. The CRO has a role in enforcing the Companies Acts in relation to company filing obligations.

Please click here to access the CRO website. If you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the sitemap you will find useful detail on the contents of the CRO website.

There are a number of CRO information leaflets available on the website and include explanations on matters including company incorporation, the filing of annual returns, audit exemption and requirements for directors. Please also click here for CRO information on Financial Statements Requirements.

Specific topics

There are several topical areas in relation to the CRO which may be of interest to readers

Requirement for directors to provide PPSNs

The requirement for Irish company directors to provide a Personal Public Service number (PPSN) when filing certain forms in the Irish Companies Registration office came into force on 11 June 2023. The new disclosure requirement is intended to help protect against identity theft. If a director does not have a PPSN but has already been issued with an RBO number from the Register of Beneficial Ownership, then this number can be used as their Identified Person Number on the CRO portal.

For further information on this requirement please use the following links:

Accountancy Ireland October 2022 (charteredaccountants.ie)

TA 02/2023 - Questions and Answers on the provision of PPSNs for directors on certain CRO filings

Click here to access the Corporate Enforcement Authority’s website where there is an information note on the requirement for company directors to provide PPS numbers when filing certain documents .

Please also see here for the CRO’s PPSN – FAQ (cro.ie).  

Click here for an Institute  news item on the  CRO blog post regarding director’s PPSNs during the busy filing period in October 2023.

Filing form B10

In June 2024 the CRO issued a guidance note in relation to The Do’s & Don’ts when filing B10 forms. The guidance note highlights some of the common issues that occur with filing B10 forms and assist presenters to avoid making mistakes when filing B10 forms

Department of  Enterprise Trade and Employment (DETE)

DETE  has also published various summaries and quick guides to the Companies Act 2014 Act which may be useful to readers.

Corporate Enforcement Authority 

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement was replaced with the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) in July 2022.The CEA is responsible for promoting compliance with, and investigating suspected breaches of, company law. Please click here to go to the CEA website to access  links to information and guides .Detailed booklets are available  relating to responsibilities of different stakeholders under the Companies Acts, including company directors, auditors, liquidators, receivers and examiners, and members and shareholders.

Here is an Institute article on the establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority.

Readers can  subscribe to the CEA newsletter here.

These pages are provided as resources and information only and nothing in these pages purports to provide professional advice or definitive legal interpretation(s) or opinion(s) on the applicable legislation or legal or other matters referred to in the pages. If the reader is in doubt on any matter in this complex area further legal or other advice must be obtained. While every reasonable care has been taken by the Institute in the preparation of these pages, we do not guarantee the accuracy or veracity of any resource, guidance, information or opinion, or the appropriateness, suitability or applicability of any practice or procedure contained therein. The Institute is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of the resources or information contained in these pages.