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CIPC confirms Deadline of 30 September 2023 for Beneficial Ownership filings and securities registers
- 20 September 2023
- Accounting
- South African Accounting Academy
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) implemented a beneficial ownership register from 01 April 2023 on a voluntary basis. The filing of beneficial ownership filings and securities/beneficial interest registers became mandatory from 24 May 2023 upon promulgation of the Amended Companies Regulations to give full effect to the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act 22 of 2022.
In terms of the amended regulations, entities incorporated after promulgation of the amended Companies regulations have to file beneficial ownership information within 10 business days after the date of incorporation. The same applies with regard to the updating of beneficial ownership records when there are changes.
Pre-existing entities, which had their anniversary date after the promulgation of the amended Companies Regulations have to also file their beneficial ownership information. We have noted that a number of entities which were supposed to file their beneficial ownership information have not filed as required. This notice serves as a reminder and those entities who have not filed are encouraged to do so.
The Commission will also be engaging some of the entities to enforce filing of their beneficial ownership information. The Commission will also conduct inspections to verify if the filed beneficial ownership information that is on our records corresponds with records kept by respective entities.
Click here to download Notice 53 of 2023:
Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:
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The Companies Act and Regulations is yet another piece of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with. If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (Non-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
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As an auditor, independent reviewer and accountant, you also need to monitor your client’s compliance with the Companies Act and all relevant notices/enforcements/practice notes/customer letters issued by CIPC as the regulator.
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Where you perform these compliance tasks on behalf of your client, you need to ensure that you comply with all relevant notices/enforcements/practice notes/customer letters issued by CIPC as the regulator.
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Your clients will also have to comply with the resultant General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act regarding anti-money laundering measures to be taken.
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As an auditor, independent reviewer and accountant you need to consider the impact of the Companies Act Regulations on your service offerings, as well as on your client’s beneficial ownership filing obligations.
Relevance to Your Clients:
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An entity (company or close corporation) has a duty to comply with the Companies Act, and all relevant notices/enforcements/practice notes/customer letters issued by CIPC as the regulator.
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Your clients will also have to comply with the resultant General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act regarding anti-money laundering measures to be taken – and more specifically, the Beneficial Ownership filing requirements.