COJ’s Company Rules Gazzetted

The Company Rules of the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) have been gazetted, which means that they are now part of the legislation under which the COJ operates.
The Company Rules govern the standards for submitting and accepting documents for registration, as well as selecting company names and certifying overseas documents.
Speaking with JIS News, Removal and Restoration Supervisor at the COJ, Sharon Prendergast, pointed out that the practices contained in the Company Rules “existed before but have now been formally published as part of the law”.
Mrs. Prendergast explained that the only significant change in the practices of the COJ on the implementation of the rules, relates to the certification of overseas documents. “Previously under the old Companies Act, the information could have been certified by a notary public but with the rules now gazetted, we ask that for registration, the certification be done by an official of the body, which has custody of the original documents,” she outlined. In relation to the selection of a company name, Mrs. Prendergast informed that under the rules, a company cannot be registered with a name that is identical or similar to that of an existing company already registered under the Act, which would likely cause confusion in the marketplace. It also goes further to say that the company’s name should not infringe on a registered trademark or be misleading or offensive in any way.
Turning to the standards for documents to be filed with the COJ, Mrs. Prendergast told JIS News that the rules stipulate that documents must be filed in letter size, with margins of at least an inch and a half at the top and an inch on each side.
She added that “documents being submitted to the COJ must be free of correction fluid.if corrections have to be made to documents that you are submitting, you need to strike it through once, make an initial by the section that you have corrected and proceed with completing your document.”
“We are asking that all documents be signed and should clearly state the capacity of the person who is signing,” she said adding that the documents will not be registered if they do not meet the standards outlined in the Company Rules.