The BO Deadline has come and gone, are you compliant?
From the 24th of May 2023, the implementation of Beneficial Ownership filing on the anniversary of a company’s incorporation was made official. What we did not realise was that the filing of Annual Returns and Beneficial Ownership would go hand in hand, with Beneficial Ownership being the number one priority. The Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) is now strictly enforcing the submission of Beneficial Ownership and Annual Returns together. Starting 1st July 2024, this will be enforced. This means that if your Beneficial Ownership is not up to date, your Annual Return cannot be submitted (Notice 39 of 2024).
What Has Changed?
The “Hard-Stop” on the submission of Annual Returns without Beneficial Ownership declarations is set for 1 July 2024.
Please be advised that the consequences of failing to comply have not changed:
- Incurring penalties for the late filing of Annual Returns.
- Enforcement action may be taken by the CIPC through investigation into the administration and governance processes of your business and even the issuing of a compliance notice; and/or
- Referral for de-registration and even final de-registration due to non-compliance.
What Are the Requirements for Companies, Close Corporations, and Trusts?
The only new requirement is that you will have to complete your Beneficial Ownership filing before your Annual Return is submitted.
What Can GreatSoft Sec Do to Help You?
GreatSoft’s journey in this process has been an interesting one, marked by many ups and downs and numerous changes to our processes. We are still working on streamlining those processes and will be completing the automation at the beginning of the next quarter.
We are continuing the development process and, with comments and feedback from you, our committed partners, we will continue to work on making the process user-friendly while maintaining compliance with CIPC regulations.
Features
Beneficial Ownership Supporting Document: This will be included in the required documentation. The Mandate, Register of Share Accounts, Beneficial Ownership or Interest Registers, and the organogram will be available per client on the Beneficial Ownership tab.
Manual Addition of Beneficial Owners: If we do not manage your company and need to add the beneficial owners manually, this will be easily identifiable by the color beside the name.
Public Interest Score Calculation: Once the above is complete, we can move on to the Public Interest Score calculation, which will validate what type of audit is required by the company.
Annual Return Calculations and Supporting Processes: We can then move on to the annual return calculations and supporting processes. This includes a letter for the client, the COR30.2, Beneficial Owner submission dates, and more.
Figure 1 – GreatSoft Company Sec user interface
Conclusion:
It’s imperative to proactively address the evolving landscape of beneficial ownership reporting. GreatSoft Sec offers a robust solution to streamline this process, allowing your organisation to remain compliant while delivering exceptional service to your clients. Contact us today to learn more and take the first step towards ensuring compliance with confidence.