The Companies (Disqualification Orders) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
The Companies (Disqualification Orders) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 were made on 3 February 2025 and came into operation on 15 February 2025.
These Regulations amend the Companies (Disqualification Orders) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) to implement Directive (EU) 2021/2101 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 amending Directive (EU) 2019/1023 as regards insolvency, restructuring and discharge of debt (the “Restructuring Directive”).
The main changes made by these Regulations are:
- Amending the extended disqualification ground in regulation 3(2) of the 2002 Regulations to include where a director of an insolvent company has been involved in the transfer of the company’s assets to a connected person or entity at an undervalue, or has caused or allowed the company to enter into a transaction at an undervalue with a connected person or entity and the transaction has caused a loss to the company’s creditors.
- Amending the disqualification ground in regulation 3(4) of the 2002 Regulations relating to failure to keep accounting records to include where a director of an insolvent company has failed to take all reasonable steps to secure that accounting records are kept.
- Amending the disqualification ground in regulation 3(5) of the 2002 Regulations relating to failure to deliver up company property or information to include where a director of an insolvent company has failed to take all reasonable steps to secure that company property or information is delivered up.
- Amending the disqualification ground in regulation 3(7) of the 2002 Regulations relating to conduct which makes a director unfit to be concerned in the management of a company to include conduct which contravenes specific provisions of the Restructuring Directive.
These Regulations also make consequential amendments to the 2002 Regulations.
A copy of these Regulations is available on the legislation.gov.uk website.
Relevant Information
The Restructuring Directive is a European Union directive that aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of insolvency, restructuring and discharge of debt procedures across the EU. The Directive introduces a number of new measures, including:
- A new framework for preventive restructuring, which allows companies to restructure their debts before they become insolvent.
- A new insolvency procedure for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
- A new discharge of debt procedure for honest debtors.
The UK government has transposed the Restructuring Directive into UK law through the Insolvency and Corporate Governance Act 2023. The Companies (Disqualification Orders) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 are part of the UK government’s implementation of the Restructuring Directive.
The Companies (Disqualification Orders) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
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