It just gets worse and worse.

Trusts

Here’s the latest stuff up, an email from the  Master:

• The staff member concerned is the one tasked with submitting all our clients’ Beneficial Ownership returns.
• She has NO authority to disclose the contents of the return. The Master, however, is giving her that power.
• We have two Growth Trusts on our books and there are another two on the portal, and the email does not give the trust number.

Companies

Here’s the old news:

• When completing the submission you have to select “Company without Beneficial Owners” or “Company with Beneficial Owners”
• The Beneficial Owners of a company are defined as including the shareholder(s).
• So what is a company without Beneficial ownership?
• The Act says that a Beneficial ownership must be submitted for all companies.
• Thereafter a new one must be submitted annually or within 10 days of a change of Beneficial Owner.
• I have previously held that CIPC is wrong to require that a Beneficial Ownership return must be submitted annually.
• However s33(1)(aA) and (aB) of the Companies Act as amended now requires this. So I was wrong.

Here’s the latest from CIPC:

• All newly registered companies must submit their first return within 10 days of registration. This is consistent with the new Act that says that a new Beneficial Ownership return must be submitted within 10 days of any change.
• But here’s some of the information that has to be submitted regarding each Beneficial Owner:
• Demographic (i.e Black, White, Asiatic, Coloured).
• Gender.
• Disability.
• What the heck have any of these got to do with anti money laundering or financing of terrorism?