Business Operators in Central Jamaica Benefit from COJ Outreach Sessions

Small and large businesses operators in St. Elizabeth and Manchester were recently educated about the new Companies Act and assisted with registering their operations, through outreach sessions organized by the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ).
Field Compliance Officer with the COJ, Gregory Spalding, told JIS News that the team visited a number of townships in the two parishes. “We began in Junction and then Santa Cruz where we met with a number of persons especially farmers from the area, and from there we spent two days in Mandeville. Our mission was two fold in that not only were we conducting registration, but we were also sharing much needed information about the new Act,” he said.
Mr. Spalding told JIS News that one serious concern, was the lack of understanding by a number of operators, about the requirements under the Act, including the new forms that must be filled out.
“We have had reports, which indicated that there are still some establishments that have the wrong check list of documents, so when for example, an individual or company, which has been duly registered, goes to open an account, certain difficulties arise.any misunderstanding can be prevented by a simple telephone call to our offices,” he explained.
The Field Compliance Officer further explained that under the new Act, certain documents had been consolidated. “We no longer need to have separate documents filed for the articles or memorandum of association in terms of creating unity within the system. We have in place a new proposal, which basically asks for all companies registered under the old Act to file what is known as an Article of Continuance, which should solve any difficulty they might possibly experience in the future,” he said.
Mr. Spalding stated that persons with access to the Internet could save a lot of time and effort by downloading free of cost, the necessary forms from the COJ’s website.
“I also suggest that persons or companies seeking to update their record need to present a physical copy of their original TRN (tax registration number); the same thing goes for all directors. In terms of the payment of fees, once you fill out the necessary documents, forward a manager’s cheque with the documents to us via the courier service if you do not wish to come into Kingston,” he advised.