Abstract
This chapter focuses on company officers (secretaries, auditors and managers), with emphasis on their responsibilities and liabilities under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) and the appropriate sanctions for breach of its requirements. It first considers who, in general terms, is an ‘officer’ or ‘manager’ of a company for the purposes of criminal or fiduciary liability. Then it deals with the appointment and qualifications of secretaries and the appointment and reappointment of auditors. There is discussion of auditors’ remuneration, integrity and independence, the required contents of an auditor’s report and an auditor’s investigative powers. There is analysis of an auditor’s liability in contract and tort for negligence in carrying out the audit and negligent misstatement in an auditor’s report. The chapter cites relevant legislation, including CA 2006 and UK Corporate Governance Code, and considers two particularly significant cases: Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 and Stone and Rolls Ltd v Moore Stephens [2009] UKHL 39, [2009] AC 1391.
