The Cayman Islands Companies Law requires that a company notify the Registrar of Companies when there is a change to the particulars contained in its Register of Directors and Officers. Penalties apply for late filings.
The Companies (Amendment) Law 2015, which will come into force on 2 November 2015, rationalises those penalty provisions. Under the amended law, a CI$500 maximum penalty per company will apply to a company for late filing. A maximum aggregate penalty of CI$2,500 will apply where a late filing occurs in respect of the same director on five or more companies.
As a practical example, if the entire slate of 8 directors on a company changed and the filing with the Registrar was late, the new penalty would be capped at CI$500, rather than the full cost of 8 individual penalties. Similarly, if one director on the boards of 8 companies changed, the maximum aggregate penalty would be CI$2,500, rather than the aggregate cost of the penalties against all 8 companies.
The Ministry of Financial Services has advised that in preparation for the new provisions, an amnesty period will be offered. Between 1 September and 5 p.m. on 30 October, the Registrar will not impose any penalties fees for the late filing of changes to the Register of Directors and Officers. This waiver applies regardless of how late the filings are or how many there may be. If a company was issued a penalty notice before 1 September but it has not yet been paid, that penalty is treated as cancelled.
Appleby welcomes the amendments to the penalty structure and the amnesty period. We consider these actions to be a noteworthy example of industry stakeholdersand government working together for the betterment of the Cayman Islands financial services industry.
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