Only 10 professional bodies in good standing - Registrar of Companies reveals
Only 10 professional bodies out of the 85 registered with the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) in the country are in good standing.
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This means the bodies have not filed their returns, which include furnishing the names of all the members, the payment of GH¢30 annual renewal fee per member as well as updating the office of any changes in the structure of the professional body.
After the payment of renewal fees, the members will be issued with a one-time certificate of membership of that professional body.
However, a new professional body seeking to register with the ORC would be requi08:42:05red to pay a registration fee of GH¢1,500.
Meeting
At a meeting with the representatives of all the professional bodies last Wednesday, the Registrar of Companies, Jemima Mamaa Oware, gave all the bodies in the country between Monday, June 12 and December 31, this year to update their documents and register their members.
After the deadline, the ORC would begin steps to delete the names of defaulting professional bodies, she told them.
The Company Act, 2019 (Act 992), which establishes the ORC, requires that all professional bodies must renew their licence by January 31 each year.
The meeting was to discuss relevant changes in the registration and regulations of professional bodies per the registered Professional Bodies Act 1973, NCRD 143.
It was also to maintain a clean and up-to-date register of all professional bodies in the country to efficiently perform its mandate as a regulator.
Awareness
“The registration of a person under subsection shall lapse at the end of each calendar year, and shall on the production to the registrar of a certificate referred to in subsection, be renewed by the Registrar,” Mrs Oware explained.
She explained that the ORC sought to operate an accurate, updated, verifiable and credible register of professional bodies.
"We have the mandate to educate the general public engaged in business activities on the operation of Companies, partnerships, business names and professional bodies”.
"So, what we are doing today is part of our mandate to sensitise our stakeholders," Mrs Oware said.
She said, currently, it was possible that some of those professional bodies were either no longer in existence or had moved on to become chartered institutions.
Mrs Oware explained that some of the professional bodies had never renewed their licences to be in good standing since their registration in the 1970s.
Professional body
Giving a background to the new regime, Mrs Oware said “a professional body shall not be registered unless it is a society, an institution or a group of persons, the members of which are trained and qualified in a recognised profession.”
She said, in addition, the members should be united in a common interest for the purposes of pursuing research and any other activities concerned with the progress of knowledge in that profession, “and for maintaining, and advancing a code of ethics and conduct among its members, and generally for the maintenance of the highest ideals of the profession.”
The Registrar of Companies said the Registrar reserved the right to refuse the registration of a professional body, adding that if that became necessary, “the Registrar shall within seven days after the refusal notify that body in writing of the reason for refusal.”
The Registrar said unless otherwise in the interest of a profession, the Registrar “shall not register a professional body in respect of a profession comprising of less than 50 persons trained and qualified in the profession”.
Cancellation
Mrs Oware urged professional bodies that had ceased to be professional bodies to inform the Registrar.
She added that such bodies must formally write to the Registrar to request cancellation and in doing so attach all registration documents.
Mrs Oware said after all the processes, a “publication of this will be done in the Companies Bulletin at a fee”.