6 MONTHS DELAY FOR the new new rule in the Kenyan government's anti-corruption drive requires all companies duly registered in the country to update the list of directors and shareholders in those companies by 31 January.
The request has already been in place for a month, but in fact owners of companies that have not yet done so have a week to provide information on directors, shareholders and intellectual property or risk losing their licences or being struck off the register of national companies. As of 1 February, the Business Registration Service will have to provide these updated lists to the government, which will then begin to carry out checks to curb corruption, money laundering and terrorism.
Companies that fail to comply with the directive will face disciplinary action as per Section 93A of the Companies Act 2015. The Government has also passed new financial laws and regulations to curb the movement of illicit money, proceeds of corruption and terrorist financing.
If a company fails to comply with this requirement, it and any of its officers in default commit an offence and on conviction are liable to a fine not exceeding Kes. 500.000. If following conviction the company continues to fail to comply, the company and each of its defaulting officers commits a further offence on each day that the failure continues and on conviction they are liable to a fine not exceeding Ksh. 50,000 for each offence.
In order to comply, a special form must be filled in, which can be provided by your accountant or directly to the Registrar of Companies.