Speaker endorses certificate on Companies (Amendment) Bill

Tuesday, 5 August 2025 03:17 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Speaker of Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne

Speaker of Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne yesterday endorsed the certificate on the Companies (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in Parliament with amendments on 23 July.

Accordingly, the amended Act introduces several provisions, including allowing the incorporation of a company with a single shareholder, extending the notice period for the public when changing a company’s name to 20 working days, prohibiting the issuance of bearer shares or bearer share warrants, requiring notification to the company regarding the issuance of bearer shares or bearer share warrants, and mandating the disclosure of the bearer’s details to the company registrar within 60 days, requiring companies to divide shares within 20 days from the date of incorporation.

Further, the Act introduces new provisions related to “beneficial ownership of shares,” including disclosure of beneficial ownership information by secretaries and directors to the registrar, maintenance of records by the registrar, making such information available to the public, mandating companies or the registrar to provide details of beneficial owners to Government authorities, and introducing new definitions for “beneficial ownership” and “effective control.”

Additionally, the amendments provide for empowering the registrar to extend the deadlines for companies to submit certain documents and information, allowing deregistered companies to re-register within a specified time and reclaim properties previously held by the Government, expanding the scope of referring disputes to the Company Disputes Board for resolution, amending the procedure for the removal of company directors, allowing the Finance Minister to provide allowances to certain officers of the Department of the Registrar of Companies, setting procedures for general penalties, and providing an annex to correct errors in the Sinhala, Tamil, and English texts of the principal enactment.