| New legislation - eFica requirements |
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NEW LEGISLATION - eFICA SOLUTION
The current practice whereby Company Secretaries and Agents were able to submit company documents electronically to the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) to effect changes to company details was deactivated in February 2009, as it was no longer tamper proof and or secure and its security was compromised.
Since the deactivation of the old system, Company Secretaries and Agents have to effect all changes to company information manually and this is understandably inconvenient and may result in long delays.
It has become imperative for CIPRO to safeguard the information on their database while ensuring that the system remains efficient and fraud-proof.
To be able to make use of this new initiative, you will need to pre-register on CIPRO’s database. Your data will be captured and then submitted via a secure web service to e-FICA. A website notice will instruct you to follow the Customer Due Diligence Procedure.
After pre-registering, your identity will have to be authenticated in person, by a CIPRO Commissioner of Oaths (COO) in Stellenbosch or Johannesburg, who will also capture finger-vein biometric data. The authentication and biometric data will then be verified with Home Affairs and be submitted to CIPRO together with certified copies of your identity document, FICA compliance documents and payment of an annual prescribed fee (payable in advance).
Upon successful completion, the applicant will be issued with a verification card and may then access electronic company amendments on the CIPRO website. Should the applicant/registered e-FICA Agent wish to make changes to a company profile, he/she will need to log on to the CIPRO website using their identification number, and the “one-time password” that will be SMS’ed to their mobile phone.
The new e-FICA Solution provides a security layer to CIPRO’s database and will enable CIPRO to forensically track all transactions to a specific individual, thereby ensuring full accountability for each and every transaction. Accordingly, CIPRO will be able to eliminate fraud and corruption as the e-FICA Agent will be held accountable for any false and/or incorrect information provided.
Please note that the applicant/e-FICA Agent will need to be verified annually, in person, in the manner prescribed above, provide all relevant documentation and payment of the annual prescribed fee to the Commissioner of Oaths.
The duties and responsibilities with regard to the maintenance and upkeep of Statutory Law are much more complicated than it used to be with a lot more legislation to comply with. As we are regularly advised of changes to legislation and in light of the above findings, we recommend that it would be more beneficial to you if we maintain the secretarial records and attend to all secretarial affairs of your company/close corporation.
Should you require our services in assisting you in this regard, please contact Julie Clacher of our Company Secretarial department. Email:
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