The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has recently implemented a crucial process change that affects all companies seeking to update director information or file company amendments.
Background
Historically, any individual or third-party service provider (such as FHBC) who was registered with CIPC as a customer could transact with CIPC by filing the director amendment if he or she had the correct signed authorization documentation to do so. However, with widespread data breaches, phishing attempts, and other criminal activities by companies, CIPC were forced to implement its new identity verification and multifactor authentication process.
What does CIPC want to achieve with this new process?
The purpose of this multi-factor authentication process is to provide a high level of assurance that the entity representative logging on to the CIPC system is who they say they are and have the mandate to perform the respective amendment pertaining to the entity.
How does this new system work?
As previously, FHBC will draft the relevant paperwork required by CIPC and the companies act to affect the relevant director change needed pertaining to a particular entity and will require the signed documents back either by electronic form or original format, whatever works best for our client.
Once the signed documents are received by our company secretarial department with the relevant supporting documentation, such as certified Identity documentation, the relevant application will be filed with the CIPC on their new online platform.
As part of the new process, an OTP Pin will be sent automatically by the CIPC to the director/s whose details needs changing with CIPC, either because he or she will be resigning or appointed as a new director or because his or her contact or director details needs updating. Please note that an OTP Pin will be send to both the email address captured for that director on the CIPC system and to the applicable cellphone number by SMS captured for that director. The onus is on the client to provide FHBC with both the OTP Pin sent by email as well as the OTP PIN sent by SMS so that the application can be finalized in a timeous manner. The OTP Pins are valid for 96 hours (i.e., 5 business day) after which new pins will need to be generated.
Please note that, as FHBC is acting as a third-party service provider, we are not authorised to act independently without the prior consent of a company’s director. If a director’s contact details are incorrect on the CIPC system, it remains the director’s responsibility to ensure that the information is updated accordingly. Should the director not have a CIPC customer code or access to a CIPC account, FHBC can provide guidance on how to proceed. However, the ultimate responsibility for updating these details rests with the director.
It is thereby evident that all companies need to ensure that the contact details for them as directors on their companies are still being used and that they are always correct to prevent any delays in processing these applications. Should the contact details be outdated, the contact details must firstly be updated before FHBC can proceed with processing the director amendments.
Should there be any uncertainties or questions relating to the new director amendment process with CIPC, kindly contact our FHBC (Wellington) office at 021 864 5180 or email Arné Bester at arne@fhbc.co.za.