The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 includes a stipulation mandating that directors of Irish companies furnish their Personal Public Service numbers on specific documents submitted to the Division of Corporations.

A Personal Public Service number serves as a national identification number for taxation and various other purposes, akin to a Social Security number.

This requirement aims to enable the Division of Corporations to authenticate the identity of directors, thereby mitigating the likelihood of company law violations (such as exceeding directorship limits) and minimizing the risk of identity theft.

Although the provision has yet to be implemented by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, the Division of Corporations announced recently that, effective April 23, 2023, all directors of Irish companies must provide their Personal Public Service number to the Division of Corporations when submitting the following forms:

Form A1 – Incorporation Application.
Form B1 – Annual Return.
Form B10 – Change of company officers or their particulars.
Form B69 – Notice of cessation of company officer in cases where the company has failed to file the notice.

The Division of Corporations will conduct verification of the director's first name, last name, date of birth, and Personal Public Service number provided by comparing this data with records held by the Department of Social Protection. To ensure alignment between the two datasets, the first name and surname submitted to the Division of Corporations must precisely match the corresponding names linked to the Personal Public Service number in the Department of Social Protection’s records.

The Division of Corporations has affirmed its authority to decline any submission presenting disparities between the information provided and the records maintained by the Department of Social Protection.

Such refusals could result in penalties for late filings, disruptions in adhering to Annual Return submission deadlines, and potential loss of audit exemption. The issue of disparities arose notably with the establishment of the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership in 2019, wherein variations in data between the RBO and the Department of Social Protection led to the rejection of numerous submissions.

Once validated, Personal Public Service numbers submitted to the Division of Corporations will be securely stored in an irreversible hashed/encrypted format. They will be inaccessible to any Division of Corporations employee or external party and will never be shared with third parties. The hashed/encrypted versions of PPS numbers will be used for future filings to prevent duplicate director records.

Directors without an Irish Personal Public Service number must obtain a Verified Identity Number by completing a Form (Declaration as to Verification of Identity) and submitting it to the Division of Corporations. This Form Verified Identity Number should include the director's name, date of birth, nationality, and address, and must be notarized in the director's home country.

Upon successful processing of this Form, the Division of Corporations will issue a Verified Identity Number, which can be used for all future CRO filings for any company the director is appointed to. Alternatively, if a director has been assigned an Central of Beneficial Ownership number by the respective Division , it can be used as their usual filings.

Failure to comply with this requirement constitutes a category four offence, punishable by a fine of €5,000.

Our Compliance services handle such applications for all clients incorporating with us. It's worth noting that this process can be completed remotely, eliminating the need for the director to physically visit the Division of Corporations.