Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003

Liability of Supervisory Authority for acts, omissions, etc.

33.—(1) Neither the Supervisory Authority nor any person who is or was a member, director or other officer or employee of the Supervisory Authority is liable for damages for anything done, anything purported to be done or anything omitted to be done by the Supervisory Authority or that person in performing their functions or exercising their powers under this Act, unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith.

(2) The matters in respect of which subsection (1) applies include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) any advice given, or admonition or censure administered, to a prescribed accountancy body under section 23 (5);

(b) any statement published under section 23 (7) concerning a prescribed accountancy body;

(c) any investigation under section 24 of a possible breach of the standards of a prescribed accountancy body by a member of that body or any sanction or penalty imposed on such a member;

(d) any certificate of refusal issued by the Supervisory Authority in connection with an investigation under section 24 ;

(e) any review under section 25 of a member of a recognised accountancy body;

(f) any notice given or statement made by the Supervisory Authority under section 26 respecting whether an undertaking's accounts comply with the Companies Acts.

(3) Subject to any enactment or rule of law, the Supervisory Authority may indemnify any person who is or was a member, director, officer or employee of the Supervisory Authority in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by that person in good faith in carrying out duties under this Act.

(4) The power to indemnify under subsection (3) includes, but is not limited to, the power to indemnify a person referred to in that subsection for any liability to pay damages or costs because of anything done or omitted to be done by that person in carrying out duties under this Act where the liability—

(a) has been determined in proceedings before a court or tribunal in another state or arises by virtue of an agreement entered into in settlement of such proceedings, and

(b) would not have been determined had subsections (1) and (2) been applied in those proceedings or would not have been the subject of such an agreement but for that person's reliance in good faith on a legal opinion or advice that those subsections would not be applied by the court or tribunal in those proceedings.