CIPC Enforcement of BO filing and Securities Register

The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) issued a follow-up notice (Notice 5 of 2024) on 6 February 2024 as a follow-up enforcement notice to the one that was issued in September 2023 (Notice 53 of 2023).

The CIPC implemented a beneficial ownership register from 1 April 2023 on a voluntary basis. The filing of beneficial ownership filings and securities registers became mandatory from 24 May 2023 upon promulgation of the Amended Companies Regulations. Pre-existing entities, which had their anniversary date after the promulgation of the amended Companies Regulations, are required to also file their beneficial ownership information. All entities in the CIPC register need to have filed their beneficial ownership information by 24 May 2024.

As of 1 April 2024, the CIPC will be introducing a hard-stop functionality that will prevent entities which have not complied with the beneficial ownership filing requirement from filing their annual returns. All entities are encouraged to comply with beneficial ownership requirements as soon as possible.

The notice may be accessed on:
https://saicawebprstorage.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/Beneficial-Ownership-Enforcement-Notice_2024.pdf