President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja assented to the Companies and Allied Matters Bill, 2020 recently passed by the National Assembly.
According to Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the President’s action on this important piece of legislation, repealed and replaced the extant Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990, introducing after 30 years, several corporate legal innovations geared toward enhancing ease of doing business in the country.
Adesina said the bill would wnhance innovations such as filing fee reductions and other reforms to make it easier and cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises to register and reform their businesses in Nigeria,.
He said it would allow corporate promoters of companies to establish private companies with a single member or shareholder, and create limited liability partnerships and limited partnerships to give investors and business people alternative forms of carrying out their business in an efficient and flexible way.
Acvording to him, It would innovate processes and procedures to ease the operations of companies, such as introducing Statements of Compliance; replacing “authorised share capital” with minimum share capital to reduce costs of incorporating companies.
He stated tgatvit would provide for electronic filing, electronic share transfers, e-meetings as well as remote general meetings for private companies in response to the disruptions to close contact physical meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic,.
He said it would also require the disclosure of persons with significant control of companies in a register of beneficial owners to enhance corporate accountability and transparency and enhancing the minority shareholder protection and engagement.
In addition, he stated tgat it would introduce enhanced business rescue reforms for insolvent companies; and permit the merger of Incorporated Trustees for associations that share similar aims and objectives.
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