During a training on ‘Use of the beneficial ownership
register’, in Lagos, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC,
Alhaji Garba Abubakar, disclosed the commission’s intention to delete 100,000
registered companies from its database.
“CAC steps up enforcement of 100,000 companies to go off its
register for failure to file an annual return,” Abubakar said.
According to him, 100,000 companies that failed to file
annual returns in the last 10 years were due to be struck off by the Corporate
Affairs Commission.
Abubakar, however, said the commission would send notice of
striking off to the affected companies before embarking on the action as
enshrined in section 692 of the CAMA, 2020.
He explained that the companies were entitled to be relisted
after payment of their outstanding debts and order of a court, as provided by
the law.
Abubakar advised companies to ensure timely payment of their
annual returns to avoid being struck off.
Speaking on Africa’s first Beneficial Ownership Register,
built by the CAC with the support and assistance of the World Bank, the
registrar general said it would go a long way in curbing corruption, money
laundering, and terrorism financing.
He urged stakeholders, especially, investigating agencies,
legal practitioners, journalists, and civil society organisations, to utilise
the BOR in discharging their responsibilities.
In his remark, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association
Section on Business Law, NBA-SBL, Dr Adeyeye Adefulu, commended the CAC for
recording another important milestone in its history.
Adefulu said NBA-SBL would sustain its existing cordial
relationship with the commission. He charged members to make good use of the
knowledge acquired at the training for the benefit of the Nigerian economy.
Also speaking, the President of the Association of Bureau De
Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, underscored the importance of the
BOR in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
Gwadabe, who highlighted some of the dangers associated with
money laundering and terrorism financing, advised professionals to apply due
diligence while dealing with their clients.
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