The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland has highlighted that fake companies have been set up in Ireland using the identities of directors or the addresses of existing businesses that have no connection with these companies.
In one example over 100 fake companies had been established using a single residential address in Dublin where the owner of the property was unaware the companies had been registered to his address.
The Institute reminds all company directors to take all necessary steps to protect their identities including:
- Set up all companies as watched companies
- Monitor regularly the use of your registered office and business address especially in a shared building
- Monitor the use of your name as a director on a search facility
The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill 2021 contains a provision requiring directors to provide their PPSN (or other information if they do not have a PPSN) when incorporating a new company, filing an annual return or notifying a change of director.
This provision is a safeguarding measure designed to mitigate the possibility of breaches of company law where directors names are used without their consent or the person has used different versions of their name on company documentation.