Key Legislative Changes Enhancing Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Companies, Foreign Companies, and LLPs

On 10 January 2022, the Parliament passed the Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act that amends the Companies Act and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act to improve the transparency and beneficial ownership of companies and limited liability partnerships. This follows an earlier consultation in July 2021 conducted by the Ministry of Finance and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

The changes align our corporate governance requirements closer with international standards by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to make it harder for illicit actors to engage in money laundering, terrorism financing and other actions that abuse the system. The changes have not come into force, but companies and LLPs should be familiar with the changes and prepared when they do.

In this Update, we highlight the key legislative changes.