The Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) will soon be administering a questionnaire to companies, aimed at assessing the adequacy of their internal compliance systems and procedures.
Acting Deputy Registrar at CAIPO, Casey Boyce, said the questionnaire, which has several questions about Beneficial Ownership, would soon be delivered to the registered office of selected companies. However, she noted that the questionnaire would not be administered to:
- businesses or entities without legal personality (e.g. registered business names, charities);
- companies with valid Foreign Currency Permits;
- companies and other legal entities that already fall under a regulator;
- companies that have already been issued with a questionnaire during Phase 1 of this process.
Ms. Boyce advised that the Director or Corporate Secretary of those companies receiving the questionnaire should promptly complete and return it to CAIPO. “For convenience and to assist us with the speedy administration of this process, it is highly recommended that the online version is completed,” she stated.
The online version may be accessed by clicking here, or by visiting CAIPOs website and clicking the “Questionnaire” link on the home page. However, if there are challenges accessing a computer or other device, a paper copy of the questionnaire will be attached to the correspondence delivered to the company’s office, with instructions on how to return it.
If persons require any information on “beneficial ownership”, they should read the Beneficial Ownership Guidelines 2021 on CAIPO’s website. In addition, if they require any guidance with regard to the questionnaire, they should email the Compliance Unit, Ministry of Energy and Business, at compliance.mibi@barbadosbusiness.gov.bb.
Ms. Boyce said the obligation for companies to maintain a record of their beneficial ownership information at their registered office was introduced into law in January 2015. She explained that since then, there had been further amendments to the Companies Act, to ensure that Barbados’ legislation remained in line with international standards.
“Each year, a company must notify the Registrar that the beneficial ownership information has been maintained at the registered office of the company through the submission of an annual return….
“Companies must provide access to beneficial ownership information to the Registrar, or a person designated by him or her, and any person who fails to do so is liable to a penalty. Continued default renders a person guilty of an offence and liable to pay a fine or to imprisonment for a term of five years or to both,” the acting Deputy Registrar stated.
The introduction of these new requirements was in direct response to the international recommendations, to ensure that Barbados has in place an effective framework to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, tax evasion and other financial crimes, and where there is evidence of such activities, measures be in place to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
International agencies, such as the Financial Action Task Force, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, have included beneficial ownership requirements in their standards, and conduct assessments of jurisdictions on their ability to ensure that up-to-date and accurate beneficial ownership information on every company in the country is available to the relevant authorities in that particular country.