IPA will de-register firms who failed to comply with rules, an official says

By CLARISSA MOI
THE Papua New Guinea Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) will carry out a de-registration exercise soon for companies that have failed to comply with regulations, managing director Clarence Hoot says.
Hoot told The National that this would be a different approach to their previous exercise which was carried out in 2019.
In November 2019, of the more than 5,000 companies that had failed to file their annual returns, up to 2,000 had been removed from the companies’ registry. An annual return is a yearly update of public information about a company on the companies’ register which includes its addresses, details of directors and shareholders.
It is a requirement by the companies’ office that the companies’ records were up to date for the purpose of effective correspondences between the office of the registrar of companies and the individual companies.
The next two batches of companies that failed to comply with regulations were to be removed last year in the next planned exercise however, due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions and related issues, the authority had stopped the de-registration exercise.
“IPA continues to halt the de-registration exercise due primarily to the Covid-19 restrictions and related issues,” Hoot said.
“There were two lockdowns in the National Capital District last year and this year.
“The situation is not improving but escalating negatively.”
Hoot added that the de-registration exercise was an ongoing programme for the authority.
“Despite the Covid-19, the IPA plans on conducting a de-registration exercise, but with a different approach to the previous exercise.”