In compliance with sections 119-123 of the 2020 Company and Allied Matters Acts (CAMA) which mandated the disclosure of persons with significant control as a means of promoting transparency on matters of ownership, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with support from the World Bank has officially launched the Open Register of Beneficial Owners.
As a stakeholder working to promote transparency in the use of public resources, the Center applauds this stride in the nation’s effort towards addressing corruption around diversion of public funds by public officer affiliated to entities, as the database will aid in knowing the ownership structure of companies and persons with significant control.
The Center aligns that the BO register will impact on efforts to reduce opacity in contracting and substantially address the use of proxies to register companies, which influence economic and commercial decisions in government’s procurement processes. It is also believed that institutionalization of BO register will aid the fight against financial crimes and illicit financial flows.
We look forward to improvement of the register to be in line with commitments made at the UK anti-corruption summit.