COJ says 70% of companies delinquent and facing removal from register

By Racquel Porter    

 

The Companies Office of Jamaica says 70 per cent of companies on its register are delinquent and facing some sort of removal.

 

COJ legal officer Amanda Wallace says some companies have failed to file mandatory beneficial ownership information under new anti-money laundering rules and annual returns.

 

She says over 15,000 companies are on the register, with more than half of them facing removal. 

 

"Of the total number of companies on our register, 70 per cent of them are delinquent. So we have to then address that, of course looking at the ones that are most delinquent first, ones that have the most information outstanding and take it there. But just to give you an idea - again, I cannot say the specific number - it is quite a few that may be facing removal and they do not comply," she outlined, while speaking Thursday with Radio Jamaica's Hotline host, Emily Shields. 

 

The COJ recently revealed that 67 companies are facing removal from the Register of Companies for failing to file mandatory beneficial ownership information under new anti-money laundering rules.

 

The regulator says the companies failed to comply with two notices sent to their registered offices in June and July 2023 with the requirement to comply by September 2023.

 

The companies are among the first batch facing removal under Section 377F of the Companies Amendment Act 2023.

 

The COJ says the companies being removed have not provided the required information since 2017.