This new law applies to all types of legal entities and comes into force on 6 January 2021.
This law paves the way for a public register of ‘significant persons’. This will include directors and secretaries of a company and equivalent positions in other legal entities. The information that will have to be provided about each ‘significant person’ includes their name, date of birth, occupation, nationality, and a correspondence address.
The law will also require the appointment of a ‘nominated person’ who is to act on behalf of the legal entity in filing submissions to the Registrar of Companies. The ‘nominated person’ will largely be the trust companies providing administration services to the company, or alternatively the directors or secretary themselves. The significance of the ‘nominated person’ role is that they will be able to inspect the records of their company held by the Registrar of Companies and to update that information if necessary.
A further role of the ‘nominated person’ will be to file an Annual Confirmation Statement which will replace the existing Annual Returns. These will operate in a similar fashion to the Annual Confirmation Statements used in the UK.
Action Point
It will be necessary to formally appoint a ‘nominated person’ to act as the conduit of information between your business and the Registrar of Companies.