Photo: IPA Haus
The Investment Promotion Authority of PNG through the Office of the Registrar of Companies has announced a successful completion of its data migration process at the end of March.
This now means that entity records from the old registry are outdated and not relevant. Clients who need to access historical information about their entities must search the new registry to get updated information.
The information presented will reflect what was there before the new system went live on the 1st of December 2022. For instance, if they search for a registered company, they will be presented with information on who were the last directors, shareholders, or the last registered office.
The Acting Registrar has also advised key users of the IPA’s online registration, especially those that use the registry for their business services such as banks and regulatory agencies, to be flexible and accept a Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) as evidence of an existing entity when clients present them to use their services.
“We urge banks and financial institutions to clear any misunderstandings on extracts and COGS,” she said. “As long as COGS are generated by the IPA’s new registry system, they confirm the information maintained by the Registrar of Companies. A fee of K20 is payable for a COGS in short form (shows current information only) or K50 for COGS in long form (shows both current and historical information). The Registrar can certify COGS at a fee of K100 per COG. This fee is in addition to the COGs fees. The onus is now on business entities to make sure they have reregistered or have filed their transitional update so that COGS are generated.”
The following are immediate impacts of the exercise on extracts and entity searches;
- The Registrar of Companies has ceased to generate extracts from the old system as they now contain outdated information.
- Records migrated from the old system are known as historical information.
- A Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) is an extract certified by the Registrar pursuant to s398(2) and s397(4) and (5).
- The COGS and Certificate of Reregistration are available and can be generated for a fee for Companies that have been reregistered.
- COGS can be accessed for Business Names, Business Groups, Associations and Foreign Enterprises that have filed their transitional update notice. No Certificate is issued when one of these entities has completed its transitional update notice.
- For companies which have not re-registered and Business Names, Business Groups, Associations and Foreign Enterprises which have not yet filed their transitional update notices, only their historical information will be presented. These business entities must be urged to reregister or file their transitional update notices so that COGS will be generated.
- Certificates and COGS are available for new entities that have been registered or renewed since 1 December 2022.
- Contact us on ipaonline@ipa.gov.pg if you want copies of images of filings for all business entities and Incorporation or Registration Certificates for business entities (excluding companies) which were registered prior to 1 December 2022. We will generate them from the legacy system until the images of all business entities are migrated
- Important Note: For further information on the impact of the migration, refer to the notices on the website – go to the Online Registries home page and also the How to Guides.
