COJ Empowered to Verify Businesses’ Membership and Beneficial Ownership Information

The Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) now has the power to verify businesses’ membership and beneficial ownership information, as outlined in recent amendments to the Companies Act that took effect on April 1, 2023.

Registrar of Companies and Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the COJ, Shellie Leon, explained that prior to the change, “someone would file documents with the Companies Office of Jamaica, and these documents would be received without the Registrar verifying how accurate the information that we receive is”.

She said consequent on the amendments, “the Registrar [now] has the power to go out and verify that the information kept at the registered office of the company, or such other place that we’ve been notified, accords with what came into the Companies Office of Jamaica”.

Ms. Leon further pointed out that if there is a discrepancy, the Registrar will notify the company and ask for the records to be updated.

She was speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the Agency’s head office in Kingston on Tuesday (April 25).

Meanwhile, a provision was made for an Annual Return to be filed where there are changes in the membership or the beneficial ownership of a company.

Additionally, if an identification card that was used for a previous filing with the Registrar has expired, then this, too, must be updated.

The importance of the amendments is to ensure greater transparency in corporate governance and reduce the risk of legal interests, such as companies, being abused and used for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Ms. Leon indicated that the “implementation of these changes will [also] ensure that Jamaica is seen as a safe place to do business, [where] exporters can export as they please”.

To this end, the COJ has put several resources in place that can assist businesses in complying with these new laws.

In addition to being available on multiple social media platforms, the Registrar has also created a beneficial ownership hub platform to facilitate interaction and information sharing. The hub can be accessed at http://www.bohubjamaica.com.

Ms. Leon assures that persons do not have to feel intimidated by the new requirements.

“We are here to help you, and we will be partnering with you to ensure that you comply and to ensure that Jamaica will be a place that everyone can do business,” she said.

COJ Empowered to Verify Businesses’ Membership and Beneficial Ownership Information

Source: JIS