Companies Act 2014 section 900

Interpretation (Chapter 2)

Section 900 sets out the key definitions and interpretive provisions used throughout Chapter 2, which deals with the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority and its oversight of accountancy bodies and statutory auditors.

• The section defines the Supervisory Authority as the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) and establishes key organisational terms such as "board", "chief executive officer", "designated body" and "prescribed accountancy body".
• A "relevant contravention" covers both breaches of a prescribed accountancy body's standards by its members and contraventions by statutory auditors of specified audit, reporting and EU regulatory requirements.
• The section defines the scope of functions, sanctions and enforcement mechanisms — including "Part 27 function", "Part 28 function", "relevant sanction", "monetary sanction" and "applicable provisions" — that govern how recognised accountancy bodies must carry out their responsibilities.
• References to statutory auditors in this Chapter include auditors approved under Part 28 to carry out assurance of sustainability reporting, and "material interest" follows the meaning given in the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.