ABSTRACT

The Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) was formed within the then Department of Trade to exercise these powers on behalf of the Secretary of State, headed by an official known as The Inspector of Companies and staffed by specialist personnel, seconded mainly from the Insolvency Service of the Department. Recently CIB was disbanded as a stand-alone organization within the Insolvency Service and its functions were subsumed into what is now known as Company Investigations, which forms part of the Investigation and Enforcement Services (IES) of the Insolvency Service. There are both civil and criminal penalties available for non-compliance with requirements made by an investigator under section 447, or for obstructing the investigation. The further action available to the Secretary of State will usually be one or more of the following: disclosure of the information to another competent authority; winding-up of the company in public interest; or disqualification of the directors under section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA).