Companies Act 2014 section 782

Restriction on power of Director to require third party to produce certain books or documents

Section 782 sets out the restrictions and procedural safeguards that apply when the Corporate Enforcement Authority seeks to compel a third party to produce books or documents that may relate to a company's records.

• The Authority must have reasonable grounds for believing that the third party's documents are connected to the company's documents before it can require their production.
• Before making a formal demand, the Authority must normally notify the third party, explain its reasoning, and allow 21 days for the third party to challenge the Authority's opinion.
• The Authority may bypass the notification process where there is a risk that documents could be concealed, falsified, destroyed, or disposed of, or where it is simply requesting originals of documents already provided in copy form.
• A third party is never obliged to produce a document if it would be entitled to refuse production on grounds of legal privilege.

---