Companies Office of Jamaica in action

Business Names Registration:

* Business Names Registered for April 2016 to March 2017: 9,495

* Business Names Registered for April 2015 to March 2016: 9,031

* Business Names on Register: 147,162

Delinquency:

* How many delinquent companies are on record (not filing Annual Return): 34,465 [Active Companies with one or more Annual Return Outstanding]

* How many companies filed Annual Returns from April 2016 to March 2017: Companies (companies on the electronic register that are not cancelled, closed, dissolved, removed or suspended) on the electronic register that have filed Annual Return(s) or Report(s) - 11,464

* How many companies filed Annual Returns from April 2015 to March 2016: Companies (companies on the electronic register that are not cancelled, closed, dissolved, removed or suspended) on the electronic register that have filed Annual Return(s) or Report(s) - 12,849

Removal:

* 2013/14: 1,731

* 2014/15: 1,720

* 2015/16: 1,720

* 2016/17: 1,821

Company Incorporation:

* Companies incorporated from April 2016 to March 2017? 2,690

* Companies incorporated from April 2015 to March 2016? 2,238

* Companies on Register? 93,703

Compliance Efforts

* COJ Mobile: Agency outreach to parishes outside the Corporate Area.

* New Forms to simplify the filing of Annual Returns with the aim of reducing wait time and processing

* Increase and continue Public Education through media engagement, expos and presentations to address the stigma that starting a business or company is hard

* Naming of Company Officers

Lawsuit

397 suits were filed over the period April 2016 to March 2017. During the period, however, 654 matters were heard, taking into consideration that there were cases from previous years that were just being heard.

Of the 654 heard, 257 of those suits had favourable judgement for the COJ while 314 were discontinued.

Of the discontinued cases 169 companies became compliant, meaning that they paid the legal fees and filed their outstanding returns/documents.

Also, from the 314 discontinued suits, 145 companies were removed and the Court given notified.

Reminders

* Legal obligations involved in forming a company - Seek guidance if necessary

* Information has to be correctly presented and match our reference database, i.e. partner systems - TAJ, MLSS, etc.

* Customers can access precedent forms from our website or from our offices

* Obligations of selecting qualified persons to be company officer

Upcoming Projects

* eBRF rollout - Business Name and Company Incorporation

* Establishing key partnerships with companies/agencies that benefit from businesses being registered

COJ Achievements

* Significant contributor to Jamaica's position on the Doing Business Index

* Super Form - One-Stop Shop

* Mobiles - continued customer engagement reaping success with increase revenue intake

* MoBay Office to serve the West

* SIPP Registry - The take up has been good but is hampered by the culture of banks/lenders collecting tangible assets

* Services available on our website

o Search

o Document requests - Letter of Good Standing

o Download and document printing

o Document Watch

o Document Tracking