Electronic register for Beneficial Ownership data collection opened

Adnan Adams Mohammed
The Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) as part of efforts
to compile and keep data on Beneficial Ownership Information and Interest in
companies, has opened its electronic register to allow the general public to
start providing such information in accordance with the Companies Act 2019 (Act
992).
The RGD has designed three specific forms to facilitate the
collection of beneficial ownership data, which are Company with Shares; Company
Limited by Guarantee and External Company.
This is a major step being taken to enable the country meet
its commitments to strategic measures towards complying with the 2016
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) global conference
resolution which makes beneficial ownership disclosure mandatory for all EITI
implementing countries, of which Ghana is a member. This subsequently gives
member countries up to January 2020 to fully operationalize the disclosure
regime.
The move is expected to assist authorities to effectively
counteract money laundering and tax evasion, while also stemming illicit
financial flows. In line with Ghana’s commitment to use transparency as a tool
for fighting corruption, some analysts have agreed that the new beneficial
ownership regime will help to identify the true owners of all companies.
“The RGD will keep a central register of the true and actual
owners of all companies in manual and electronic format”, the Department
reports.
In July 2019, the Registrar General, Madam Jemima Oware
constituted a technical stakeholder forum to fix thresholds for beneficial
ownership disclosure for all the various sectors being incorporated into the
new Companies Law.
One area that stakeholders critically examined under the
regime is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), and as such, this has been
incorporated as companies have been tasked to provide further details on such
people and also give the nature of their connection to the company.
However, where a person fails to provide the information
required or gives false and misleading information, it will be deemed as an
offence liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than fifty penalty
units and not more than two hundred and fifty penalty units. Such persons can
also face imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than two years
or even both fines and imprisonment.
Where a company defaults in complying, it will also be
liable to pay an administrative penalty of twenty-five penalty units for each
day beginning from the first day the offence was committed. In monetary value,
twenty-five penalty units are equivalent to GHc30
The current Companies’ Act, 2019 is expected to streamline
the corporate regulatory framework to contribute immensely in ensuring
transparency in the ease of doing business in the country.
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