Companies Act 2014 section 286

Accounting records: offences

Section 286 sets out the criminal offences that arise when a company or its directors fail to comply with the requirements for keeping adequate accounting records, and the defences available to directors.

• A company that breaches its obligations regarding adequate accounting records (sections 281–285) commits a category 2 offence, escalating to a more serious category 1 offence in specified aggravating circumstances
• Directors who fail to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance, or who intentionally cause a breach, face the same categories of offence as the company itself
• A breach is upgraded to a category 1 offence where the company is subsequently wound up and unable to pay its debts and the breach contributed to that situation, where the breach persisted for three or more continuous years, or where it involved failure to record transactions exceeding €1 million or 10% of net assets (whichever is greater)
• A director has a defence if they can prove they genuinely believed a competent and reliable person had been assigned responsibility for compliance and was able to fulfil that role, and that the director properly monitored that person's performance