The Companies Investigation Branch (or CIB) was part of the United Kingdom's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Headed by the Inspector of Companies, CIB exercises on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform the statutory powers of enquiry under the Companies Act 1985 and other legislation.
Civil servants within CIB carry out most investigations, although occasionally qualified individuals in the private sector are used – usually as a means of dealing with varying work loads, but sometimes because special expertise is required.
On 1 April 2006 CIB became part of the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, though its functions are unchanged.
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