The Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 (c. 27), sometimes called CAICE, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that regulates certain practices in financial record keeping and reporting for companies.

Background The following consultation documents and reports are precursors of this act:Explanatory notes, paragraph 5 The "Final Report of the Co-ordinating Group on Audit and Accounting Issues" to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, published in January 2003 "Review of the Regulatory Regime of the Accountancy Profession: Legislative Proposals", published in March 2003, and the "Report on the public consultation and the Government's conclusions", published in February 2004 The consultation document "Company Investigations: Powers for the 21st Century" published in October 2001 The consultation document "Enterprise for Communities: proposals for a Community Interest Company", published in March 2003, and the "Report on the public consultation and the Government's intentions", published in October 2003 The consultation document "Director and Auditor Liability" published in December 2003 The two purposes of the legislation were

to ensure that the United Kingdom avoided scandals similar to the Enron scandal or the Worldcom scandal. to reform companies legislation to provide a governance framework for certain social enterprises, which placed less emphasis on profit-making

Provisions

Reform of audit and investigations The act reformed companies legislation to tighten the regulation of accounting practices.

In 2005, Griffiths compared the powers to require documents, under section 21 of this act, and to enter and remain on premises, under section 23 thereof, to the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.Griffiths, "The DTI is watching you" (2005) 155 NLJ 198

Community interest companies

The act introduced community interest companies, and the officer known as the Regulator of Community Interest Companies.

Community interest companies are designed to serve the public interest without the strict governance requirements of charities. The main difference between a normal company and a community interest company is that a community interest company has an asset lock.

Reception In 2005 and 2013, Mäntysaari and McLaughlin said this Act is important.Petri Mäntysaari. Comparative Corporate Governance. Springer. 2005. p 82. See also pp 81, 84, 142, 151, 153, 154, 163, 184, 188, 196, 197 and 218.Susan McLaughlin. Unlocking Company Law. 2nd Ed. Routledge. 2013. p 10. See also pp 50 and 58. It is comparable to the US Sarbanes–Oxley Act.Graham Mott. Accounting for Non-Accountants. 8th Edition. Kogan Page. 2012. p 8. The Conservative spokesperson, Andrew Mitchell, criticised the government for not embarking on a wholesale reform of company law.

Community Interest Company Regulations 2005 The Community Interest Company Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1788) were made under powers conferred by this Act."Community Interest Company Company Regulations 2005". Butterworths Company Law Handbook. 31st Ed. pp 1488 to 1507.

See also Companies Act

Notes

References Halsbury's Statutes Andrew Haynes. "Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004". Current Law Statutes 2004. Volume 2. Chapter 27. Page 27-1 et seq. Keith Walmsley (ed). "Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004". Butterworths Company Law Handbook. 31st Edition. LexisNexis. 2017. Pages 1393 to 1423. See also passim. See also the 19th to 30th editions of this book. Paul Gee. "Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004". UK GAAP for Business and Practice. Chapter 2.7 at pages 20 and 21. See also pages 2, 7 and 475. Peter Loose, Michael Griffiths and David Impey. The Company Director. Twelfth Edition. Jordan Publishing. 2015. Pages v, 15 to 17, 21, 124, 196 to 202, 204, 205, 207 to 210, 215, 216, 359, 362, 363, 365, 368 to 371, 496 to 499 and 503 to 507. Mike Griffiths, "The DTI is watching you" in "Company Law" (2005) 155 The New Law Journal 198 and 199 (11 February 2005). See also pages 528, 529, 564, 649, 662 and CAS (86) 28. Google: Mike Griffiths, "DTI: power to enter and remain" in "Company" (2005) 155 New Law Journal 738 Richard C Bishop. "[The] Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004". Law and Regulation of Community Interest Companies. Bloomsbury Professional. 2022. Paragraph 2.3 at pages 26 and 27. Paragraphs 3.2 to 3.6 at pages 31 to 34. See also the paragraphs listed at pages x and xi.

External links

Explanatory notes to the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004.