Office of the Registrar of Companies strikes off over 500,000 businesses from its register

The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has begun steps to remove the names of some 513,338 businesses from the companies’ registrar for non-renewal of certificates.

Announcing the decision in a statement to B&FT, the Registrar of Companies, Jemima Mamaa Oware, said the development leaves the names open to be used by anyone interested in them – and is in line with Section 5A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962 (Act 151) on Annual Renewals which states that: “Without prejudice to any other liability prescribed by this Act, a registration which is not renewed in accordance with this section shall lapse and the Registrar may remove from the Register the Business Name of the person whose registration has lapsed after the expiration of the period prescribed for the renewal”.

“Therefore, to avoid such Business Names falling into the public domain, and for anyone of interest to use it after it has been struck off the Business Name Register, all Business Name Owners are entreated to renew their Business Names before the end of April 2023,” she said.

The ORC last month served warning of clamping down on businesses and entities in its books that have not renewed their registration with the office three months after expiry of their registration.

Meanwhile, the OCR is expected – for the very first time from June 1, 2023 – to commence full implementation of section 126(7) of the Companies Act, 2019(Act992) which states that: “Where a company defaults in complying with the filing of annual returns and financial statements, the company and every officer of the company that is in default is liable to pay to the Registrar an administrative penalty of twenty-five penalty units for each day during which the default continues”.

A penalty unit is established by the Fines (Penalty Units) Act 2000 (Act 572), and the current monetary value per penalty unit is GHC12.

“This means that effective 1 June 2023, an administrative charge of GHC300 will be charged for each day the default continues against the Company and every officer of the Company until section 126 (7) is complied with,” Oware stated.

President Akufo-Addo launched the ORC last year after a 15-year wait, with hopes that the Office would take charge of the administration and registration of companies in the country.

The vacuum created by absence of an ORC contributed to the weak system of supervision for companies in the country; therefore, its setting up is expected to bring dynamism to the business environment.

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