…Gives 6 Weeks Compliance Deadline
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has issued a stern warning to companies and business operators in Nigeria on the need for strict compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020, threatening that violators of the legislation risk a two-year jail term and daily fines for non-compliance.
The commission, in a public notice issued on Tuesday, maintained that it remained a criminal offence under Section 863 of the Act to operate a business without proper registration or to use a name or acronym different from that officially registered.
The Notice reads: “The Commission wishes to inform the General Public that it is a criminal offence under Section 863 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 to carry on business in Nigeria as a Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Partnership or under a Business Name without registration under the Act or by a name (or acronym) other than the name (or acronym) by which the business was registered under the Act.
“The General Public should note that Section 729 of the Act requires every Company registered under the Act to state its name as registered and its registration number outside every place where it carries on business. In addition, the Company is required to state its registered name and registration number on all its official publications, including its letterhead, signage(s), marketing and publicity materials.
“In particular, the General Public should note the provisions of Section 862 (1) of the Act which provides that any person who, in any document required by, or for the purpose of any of the provisions of the Act (including the aforementioned official publications of a Company), makes a statement which is false in any material particular knowing it to be false, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of two years in addition to a daily fine against the Company for every day during which the offence continues”, it added.
The commission stressed that in view of the foregoing, every Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Partnership and Business Name proprietor(s) was required to ensure full compliance with the above requirements of the Act within six weeks of the notice, failing which it shall take all necessary steps (including prosecution) to enforce compliance.
