The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has kept its promise of taking Montserrat online with its new portal for company registration and incorporation, including the Publicly Accessible Register of Beneficial Ownership (PARBO).
The new portal, developed by a local Montserrat, “advances corporate transparency that significantly helps in preventing companies from being used as vehicles for money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. This marks a significant step in the jurisdiction’s efforts in being compliant with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other international standards,” a release from the agency said.
Developed by Jhovan Daniel, a local IT expert and software developer, the online system is hosted by the Companies and Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). The platform will streamline company incorporation/registration, including offering seamless updates to beneficial ownership information and provides public access to basic and beneficial ownership information.
Beneficial Ownership (BO) details are automatically integrated into the PARBO during incorporation/registration of a company and if any further changes are made by the company. Also, due diligence checks and screening is conducted for all potential Directors, Persons with Significant Control (PSC) and Shareholders of a company on incorporation/registration and also on an ongoing basis using an automated integrated Anti-money Laundering (AML) and Countering Terrorism Financing (CFT) screening tool.
All existing companies must re-register as per the obligations set out under the Companies Act 2023, Companies Regulations 2024, and Persons with Significant Control (Registration) Regulations 2024. The deadline for all registration is March 7, 2025.
Companies are strongly encouraged to re-register, ensuring compliance with Montserrat’s laws and regulations within the stipulated deadline.
The platform is accessible at https://cipo.fsc.ms.
The FSC thanked its key stakeholders and the public for their collaboration and continued support in their journey towards full digitization and automation of the Companies & Intellectual Property Office.
For more information, visit the FSC website or contact them at:
Online Portal for Companies & PARBO: https://cipo.fsc.ms
FSC Montserrat: https://www.fscmontserrat.org/
Social media: Facebook: @fscmontserrat | Instagram: @fscmontserrat
