ORC to take over business registration from RGD
Ghana’s Office of Registrar of Companies (ORC) is by law set to take over the obligation to regulate and register all business in Ghana from the Registrar General’s Department (RGD).
A statement issued by Registrar of Companies Jemima Mamaa Oware on Monday 15 August 2022 said “The import of this is that, the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) will no longer be responsible for Business registrations in Ghana. However, the Department would perform other functions which would include the registration of Marriages, registration of Industrial Property Rights, registration of Public Trusts and Administration of Estates. The Registrar-General was meant to temporarily perform the functions of the Registrar of Companies now being carried out under the ORC from the onset. The ORC should therefore have been set up 55 years ago but has now been established in line with the original intent of the framers of the Companies Act, 1963, (Act 179)”.
According to the statement, “The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) will henceforth be responsible for the registration of all Private/Public Companies which are Limited /Unlimited by Shares, Public/Private Companies Limited by Guarantee, External Companies, Sole Proprietorships, Subsidiary Business Names, Partnerships, Limited Partnerships and Professional Bodies”.
“Other functions of the ORC would include serving as the Regulator of Insolvency Practitioners under the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act 2020 (Act 1015) and its Amendment, (Act 1031) as well as the Official Liquidator for Government Institutions. The ORC would manage its own finances and fixed assets and appoint Inspectors, Receivers or Managers to ensure the effective compliance with the Companies Act, 2019(Act 992)”, the stated further said.
Read the full statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15th August 2022.
OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES (ORC) TO REGULATE AND REGISTER ALL BUSINESS ENTITIES IN GHANA.
The Governing Board and Management of the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) wishes to inform its cherished clients and the General Public that the Office of the Registrar of Companies is a newly established Public Institution with the mandate to register and regulate all types of Business Entities in Ghana.
This follows the successful launch of the ORC by the President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 22nd July, 2022. The Office, established by the Companies Act 2019, (Act 992) was hived off from the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) as a separate financially autonomous Office.
The import of this is that, the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) will no longer be responsible for Business registrations in Ghana. However, the Department would perform other functions which would include the registration of Marriages, registration of Industrial Property Rights, registration of Public Trusts and Administration of Estates. The Registrar-General was meant to temporarily perform the functions of the Registrar of Companies now being carried out under the ORC from the onset. The ORC should therefore have been set up 55 years ago but has now been established in line with the original intent of the framers of the Companies Act, 1963, (Act 179).
The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) will henceforth be responsible for the registration of all Private/Public Companies which are Limited /Unlimited by Shares, Public/Private Companies Limited by Guarantee, External Companies, Sole Proprietorships, Subsidiary Business Names, Partnerships, Limited Partnerships and Professional Bodies.
Other functions of the ORC would include serving as the Regulator of Insolvency Practitioners under the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act 2020 (Act 1015) and its Amendment, (Act 1031) as well as the Official Liquidator for Government Institutions. The ORC would manage its own finances and fixed assets and appoint Inspectors, Receivers or Managers to ensure the effective compliance with the Companies Act, 2019(Act 992).
The General Public is hereby reminded that the ORC will continue to operate from the same premises with the RGD in all our branches across the country namely; Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and Sunyani until the construction of its Head Office is completed and its operations moved there.
For further enquiries, please contact the ORC on 055-765-3130/030-266-6180/030-266-4691. WhatsApp/Telegram on 055-765-3130 or any of our social media handles @ORC GHANA.
ORC – BRINGING EFFICIENCY TO BUSINESS REGISTRATIONS AND REGULATION IN GHANA.
SIGNED.
JEMIMA MAMAA OWARE (MRS)
REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES
President launches Office of the Registrar of Companies
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Friday launched the newly created Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) that would take charge of the administration of the registration of companies and businesses in the country.
The ORC, a statutory entity, contrived from the Registrar-General’s Department, is entrusted with the important function of undertaking the task of company and business registration, and advisory services.
Operating as an autonomous body, the ORC would handle the registration of businesses such as private public companies limited and unlimited by shares, private public companies limited by guarantee, including churches, schools, NGOs, CSOs, associations, unions, external companies and professional bodies.
At the launch in Accra, the President said the coming into force of the ORC was a considerable milestone in the anti-graft agenda of government.
He said the ORC would become a veritable partner of government in the fight against corruption.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the creation of shell companies and opaque financial systems that provide the opportunity for business entities to launder and conceal illicit wealth would be curtailed by the coming into being of the ORC.
Additionally, the Ghana Companies Act 2019, Act 992, which birthed the ORC, that stipulates the provision of the particulars of beneficial owners of companies and businesses was a “strong tool to aid in the fight against corruption, money laundering and thus ultimately boost investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy.”
Act 992 seeks to improve corporate governance standards for companies operating in Ghana. The Act draws on the expertise of some developed jurisdictions and includes specifically international best practices from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa and Mauritius.
The Act separated the Office of the Registrar of companies from the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), taking up solely the duties of company registration and advisory services.
The President however stated that the launch of the ORC did not render the RGD redundant.
“As we celebrate this milestone, let me make it clear that the Registrar General’s Department’s role has not been abolished…the public should be assured that the establishment of the Office Registrar of Companies does not in any way invalidate any contract entered with the Registrar General’s Department.
“All transactions between members of the public and the Registrar General’s Department remain valid. I urge all and sundry to support the ORC as it strives to offer excellent services and improve the processes of doing business in Ghana,” he said.
The Registrar General’s Department operations will now be limited to the registration of intellectual property rights, marriages under special license and the administration of estates.
The President assured that ORC that the government would provide a befitting office space.
He disclosed that a two-acre parcel of land had been acquired on the premises of the University of Ghana, Legon, for the construction of a new office building for entity.
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