The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said it would soon delete a total of 100,000 registered companies from its database.
The Registrar-General/CEO of the CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, revealed this in Lagos while speaking at a Training Workshop on the Use of the Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR).
According to him, the companies to be deleted have failed to file annual returns in the last ten years, hence due to be struck off its register.
Abubakar said that the Commission would soon send notices 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 are, however, entitled to be relisted upon payment of their outstanding debts and an order of a court, as provided by the law.
He, therefore, advised companies to ensure timely payment of their annual return to avoid being struck off.
BOR as an anti-corruption tool
Speaking on Africa’s first Beneficial Ownership Register, built by the CAC with the support and assistance of the World Bank, the Registrar General stressed that it would go a long way in curbing corruption, money laundering, and terrorism financing.
He explained that the platform, launched in May this year, was to make it easy to search for information on Persons with Significant Control, PSC.
- “The portal as an automated platform is where records of PSC collated by CAC are stored and accessible both to the general public and for government use. This platform offers a search function and information on persons with significant control by the international standard of beneficiary ownership data standards (BODS) under the guidance of the World Bank.
- “It also provides an Enterprise Service Bus, ESB, gateway for data exchange by BODS in the required format. “The BOR Portal will enable users to find the Person with Significant Control, PSC, of any entity when a search is initiated with either of the following parameters: entity’s name, entity’s number, PSC first name, and PSC surname,” he said.
He enjoined stakeholders, especially investigating agencies, legal practitioners, journalists, and civil society organizations, to utilize the BOR in discharging their responsibilities.
In his remark at the event, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law, NBA-SBL, Dr. Adeyeye Adefulu, commended the CAC for recording yet another important milestone in its history.
Adefulu said that the NBA-SBL would sustain its existing cordial relationship with the Commission and 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 (ABDCON), Aminu Gwadabe, underscored the importance of the BOR in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
While highlighting some of the dangers associated with money laundering and terrorism financing, Gwadabe advised professionals to apply due diligence while dealing with their clients.
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