1. The birth of Company Haus
Registry reform in Solomon Islands
Hence Vaekesa, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Commerce
Joseph Leve Malanga, Deputy Registrar of Companies
Veronica Manedika, Assistant Registrar of Companies
Aaron Levine, Consultant, ADB
2. Outline
• Who are we? ( Joseph)
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• Short Video
• How it was before ( Veronica)
• The Reform ( Aaron, Veronica)
• Company Haus today ( Joseph- Demonstration, Aaron- Results)
10. Publicity
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What is PSDI?Where does it operate?What are we doing in Solomon Islands?Focus on 2 reforms in the business law area.
Craving for information – the printed factsheets would fly out the door of the new registry office.
Craving for information – the printed factsheets would fly out the door of the new registry office.
Craving for information – the printed factsheets would fly out the door of the new registry office.
Craving for information – the printed factsheets would fly out the door of the new registry office.
BackgroundADB assisted Solomon Islands Government on their request in reform process starting in 2006 old UK Act from 1940sSolomon Islands Government passed the Companies Act in 2009 after lengthy consultationsTook up to 3 months to incorporate, limitations on types of companies, archaic requirements (memo assocn, company seal), minister name approvalOld registry anecdote: pull a file out, not only the dust, but the papers literally disintegrated…..The Act commenced 1 July 2010 An electronic registry came online December 2010. All co’s must re-register.I’ll break down the implementation into 4 chunks.
New law is also a new opportunity: refresh the institutionMoved to new ministry: staff, resources, systems – opportunity for fresh startEverything needed to be set up: business processes, computers, scanners, filing systems, customer service areas etcNew name, new logo, new customer focusMixing old processes with new: Business Names/Companies – physical files v electronic filesStaff training on key features of the New Companies Act; training in provincial offices
Seminars: the basics, then more technical tailored presentations to different interest groupsChamber of CommerceSmall Business CouncilsWomen in business associationSpecific Communities involved in businessRegional areas in other provincesBanksAccounting/Law Firms-Described difference between sole traders, partnerships and companies- What are Shareholders? Directors?Described major changes in the lawSole shareholder companyCommunity CompanyMore technical side:Directors DutiesInsolvency testCompany meetings and resolutionsShareholder rights
PLAY THE AD
ADB tendered for registry experts – Foster Moore in NZ won, and project team of Registrar, Admin Officer, FM and myself was formed in July 2010Every single function of the registry need to be converted into processes and code. V detail focussed part of the project.Launched in December 2010
If have time, can do a demoWent back to all the stakeholders again and held multiple trainings – group and one-to-one to assist with transition.Set up a free terminal at company haus.Was opportunity for registry to foster co-operative spirit with private sector as partners instead of opponents.Continued staff training (still ongoing)Perseverance- it won’t always be perfect….
If have time, can do a demoWent back to all the stakeholders again and held multiple trainings – group and one-to-one to assist with transition.Set up a free terminal at company haus.Was opportunity for registry to foster co-operative spirit with private sector as partners instead of opponents.Continued staff training (still ongoing)Perseverance- it won’t always be perfect….
Has it worked? Over 1000 companies on register. Used to be over 2000, but expected over 50% would drop off as a result of old system’s inefficiencies and culture of non-complianceTime to incorporate down from months to days…often a single day and at a significantly reduced cost.Access to information – media v excited; MP’s register of interests…LCCPolicy tool for govt – data can be split down by sector, by province, by type of company. Directors and shareholders, broken down by gender to get a baseline (around 33% women) and track movements
Has it worked? Over 1000 companies on register. Used to be over 2000, but expected over 50% would drop off as a result of old system’s inefficiencies and culture of non-complianceTime to incorporate down from months to days…often a single day and at a significantly reduced cost.Access to information – media v excited; MP’s register of interests…LCCPolicy tool for govt – data can be split down by sector, by province, by type of company. Directors and shareholders, broken down by gender to get a baseline (around 33% women) and track movements
Has it worked? Over 1000 companies on register. Used to be over 2000, but expected over 50% would drop off as a result of old system’s inefficiencies and culture of non-complianceTime to incorporate down from months to days…often a single day and at a significantly reduced cost.Access to information – media v excited; MP’s register of interests…LCCPolicy tool for govt – data can be split down by sector, by province, by type of company. Directors and shareholders, broken down by gender to get a baseline (around 33% women) and track movements
Has it worked? Over 1000 companies on register. Used to be over 2000, but expected over 50% would drop off as a result of old system’s inefficiencies and culture of non-complianceTime to incorporate down from months to days…often a single day and at a significantly reduced cost.Access to information – media v excited; MP’s register of interests…LCCPolicy tool for govt – data can be split down by sector, by province, by type of company. Directors and shareholders, broken down by gender to get a baseline (around 33% women) and track movements
Has it worked? Over 1000 companies on register. Used to be over 2000, but expected over 50% would drop off as a result of old system’s inefficiencies and culture of non-complianceTime to incorporate down from months to days…often a single day and at a significantly reduced cost.Access to information – media v excited; MP’s register of interests…LCCPolicy tool for govt – data can be split down by sector, by province, by type of company. Directors and shareholders, broken down by gender to get a baseline (around 33% women) and track movements
Steps to open a bank account are easier- certificates can easily be verified by bank staff, and due diligence on borrowers can be done on the Company Haus website.While working with the company registrar, we saw that a company wasn’t appropriate for small businesses- sole traders needed to register something called a business name. There are over 10,000 of them, and every year there are significantly more. Over 1000 expected this year. Yet the processing of the applications was slow, and key SME data that could be captured, was being lost. So we’re streamlining their processes- very simple steps to reduce the processing times and get customers back to what they should be doing- their business, not the business of starting a business. Law reform will follow soon to enable integration onto the company registry.
