Tag: Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)

The B-BBEE commission sent an unflinching message to entities attempting to circumvent their transformation responsibilities: there is zero tolerance for entities involved in fronting and/or misrepresentation of their Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) status and such activities will lead to criminal investigation and prosecution.

The Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) is a cornerstone document for any company, laying out the rights, responsibilities and duties of shareholders and directors. It is obligatory that every company has an MOI filed with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and it is available for public viewing at a small fee.

Non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations can result in heavy financial penalties and could expose your clients and business to potential harm, with Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) fines of up to R10 million in your personal capacity and up to R50 million as a company.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 38 of 2001 (FIC Act), places an obligation on accountable institutions to identify clients, to keep record of transactions, to report various transactions and to take measures to promote compliance with the provisions of the FIC Act. 

In the run-up to International Women’s Day (8 March) it’s important to note that while half of the South African population and 45% of the employed workforce are female, only 20% of directors of JSE-listed companies are women. New report recommends voluntary target of 30% female board members.

South African small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) are struggling with weak economic growth, load shedding and crime. The regulatory burden also continues to hamper the growth of these businesses and their employment creation abilities.

The construction industry is unique in that developers, manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors are all in the same cash stream, and when a company at the top end of the chain becomes financially distressed it has a knock-on effect on the rest of the industry.

The delinquency provisions in the Companies Act are emerging as a key remedy against misconduct by directors in both the public and private sectors. What we have seen recently is that these delinquency provisions are increasingly being used to hold directors to account for misconduct. Directors must take note of this, because the penalties are extremely severe.

It is all systems go for a new digital financial reporting system for CIPC, iXBRL, planned for roll out on 01 July 2018. This new annual financial statement reporting system is linked to a bigger project of standardising business reporting across the country, where entities can ‘report once and reports shared more than once’ with other regulators.