Companies Act 2014 section 780

Power of Director to require third party to produce books or documents

Section 780 empowers the Corporate Enforcement Authority to require third parties — that is, persons other than the company itself — to produce books or documents that relate to a company's records.

• Where the Authority has the power to require production of books or documents from a company, it can also require any person believed to hold those books or documents to produce them.
• The Authority can require any person thought to hold copies of a company's books or documents to produce those copies, as well as other related books or documents in that person's possession (subject to the restrictions in section 782).
• Any such requirement must be made by way of a formal direction specifying what books or documents are to be produced, and when, where, and how they are to be produced.
• Producing a book or document under this section does not affect any lien the person may have over it — they retain their legal right to hold the document as security for a debt.