Click here

To view the results of the ECRF benchmarking survey for 2012 click here

Ms. Ada Chung, Registrar of Companies of Hong Kong, briefed Mrs. Chinien that :

• Electronic incorporation service was formally launched at the new e-service portal of Hong Kong – “e -Registry” on 18 March 2011.  This significantly reduces the incorporation time from 4 workings days to less than a day.
• Customers can submit the more commonly filed statutory returns electronically at the e-Registry in late January 2012.
• A new Companies Bill was introduced in the legislature in early 2011 and would likely be enacted by July 2012.
• An e-Monitor service for customers to keep an eye on any updating of company information on the public register was launched at the e-Registry on 30 Dec 2011.

The CRF is delighted to be hosted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of India.

Event details, program, registration form and hotel booking forms can be found from the 2012 conference page India 2012

All enquiries concerning conference matters should be directed to crfindia2012@gmail.com

The Annual General Meeting of the CRF will also be held at the hotel Ashok New Delhi on 15 February at 3pm.  In accordance with rule 5.5 notice of the AGM and proposed agenda is given.

A delegation from Guernsey visited the Hong Kong registry on 7th November 2011 to exchange information on the latest developments of both registries.  Ms Ada Chung Registrar of Companies Hong Kong briefed the delegation on:-

• Electronic incorporation service formally launched at the new e-portal on 18 March 2011.  Registration turnaround times have reduced from 4 to less than a single business day;
• Further enhancements planned for 2012 to allow filing of statutory returns;
• New Companies Bill introduced, to be enacted July 2012.

Justin has been with the CRF since its beginning way back in 2003 when the first CRF meeting was held in Auckland. At that time the CRF had only 13 members. Over the past 7 years, under Justin’s guidance and thanks to his hard work, the CRF has grown to its current strength of 41 members. Everyone who has come into contact with Justin cannot help but be moved by zeal, enthusiasm, passion and a sense of devotion to what the CRF stands for. For many of us, Justin has been the point of contact for all CRF matters.

His leaving is a big loss for the CRF. All of us in the CRF family are happy that Justin is moving on to a new job and we wish him every success in all his future endeavours. The CRF would not be the same without him and we will all miss him. Justin assures us that he has not left the Registry business and he will always be a “registry geek”. We look forward to seeing him at future CRF conferences and especially during CRF 2013 which will be held in New Zealand.

Mr Michael Brosnahan will be coming on board as the new CRF Secretary with effect from 2 Sep 2011. Most of you know Michael and would have met him during the CRF Conferences or when you visited the New Zealand Companies Office. We bid Michael a warm welcome to the CRF Executive Committee and we look forward to working with him. Please join me in wishing Justin a fond farewell and in bidding Michael a warm welcome to the CRF family.

Ms Juthika Ramanathan

Immediate Past President CRF

Justin has been the Group Manager responsible for the New Zealand Companies Office, he has worked for the Companies Office for 26 years and leaves in September 2011.  Justin has been a strong supporter of the Corporate Registers Forum.  He leaves to take up a role within the private sector.  Justin hopes to continue his relationship with the CRF as he is moving to Foster Moore Ltd a company that specialises in building registry systems (and also strong supporters of the CRF).

Justin's role as the Secretary will be assumed by Michael Brosnahan, Operations Manager New Zealand Companies Office.  Michael is well known to many in the CRF family and has attended 4 CRF conferences over the years, most recently in Singapore.

In keeping with the tradition of the CRF Mr Del Rey took the opportunity to visit the Hong Kong Companies Registry en route back from the successful CRF Conference in Singapore.

The photograph shows Mr Del Rey and Hong Kong's Registrar of Companies Ada Chung concluding their information sharing meeting.

The 1st of May 2011 also signals the birth of the new...

Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)

The Commission is being put in place in order to deliver on the new Act’s mandate. The Commission brings together skills, knowledge and manpower from the Office of Companies and Intellectual Property Enforcement (OCIPE) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO).

The new Commission will act independently with a focus on the registration of companies and intellectual property. Further functions of the Commission, amongst others, will include education and awareness, investigations, compliance and enforcement.

Visit CIPC's new website here http://www.cipc.co.za/

The CRF 2011 is now open for registration online via this website.  You will find all the latest Agenda, Venue and Destination Information, Accommodation and helpful information to help assist in your trip planning. 

Malawi becomes the 38th current member of the CRF and the 6th African jurisdiction to become a member.

The Israeli Corporations Authority has joined the Corporate Registers Forum and is our 37th member.  A delegation from the ICA attended the CRF 2010 conference in Mauritius.  CRF members are delighted to have the ICA join our ranks.

There have been a high number of visits between registries between the annual conference.

 Hong Kong hosted Ricco Dun from the Netherlands and Justin Hygate from New Zealand

 Australia hosted a delegation from Brazil (and encourage them to become members of CRF) and New Zealand

 New Zealand hosted delegations from Brazil, Spain (a new CRF member jurisdiction) along with signing an agreement with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Beijing, China - long time supporters of the CRF.

 Justin Hygate from New Zealand visited the Indonesian registry as part of an APEC sponsored visit. 

 Several member jurisdictions including Singapore, Indonsesia and New Zealand participated in an APEC Seminar on the First Steps of Successful Reform in Doing Business in Chinese Taipei.

 Hong Kong Companies Registry management host a visit from Justin Hygate (New Zealand)

Please let the secretariat know of visits you have undertaken in order to keep us all informed of the wider activity of CRF members.

Company Haus,  Solomon Islands have joined the CRF bringing the total number of current members to 34.

Keith Sendwe as Chief Executive of CIPRO was the President of the CRF from 2008 – 2009 and hosted the very successful CRF conference in Cape Town in 2009.

The CRF is most grateful to CIPRO for its’ ongoing membership and support and our thoughts are with his family and the management and staff of CIPRO at this time.

"There have been ten new member jurisdictions since the 2009 conference", reports Justin Hygate, the CRF Secretariat. "With the 2010 conference only three weeks away there is real opportunity to see the membership grow to 40 before the end of 2010".

The Corporate Registers Forum is delighted to welcome the business registries from Jordan, Macedonia, Netherlands and Tunisia as members.

The total membership as at March 2010 is 29 jurisdictions.

"The CRF is truly a global organisation and is we are very pleased with the growth in 2010" says Justin Hygate the current secretary of the CRF.

The CRF 2010 conference will be held in Mauritius from Monday 19 April to Friday 23 April 2010 and will be hosted by the Companies Division (Ministry of Finance and Economic Empowerment).

Register for CRF 2010 before Sunday 28 February 2010 by registering online at http://mns.intnet.mu/crf2010/

You can find more information about CRF 2010 in the Conferences section of this website.

At the recent CRF Executive Committee meeting held in Jakarta, Indonesia the Executive voted to remove the restriction on ECRF and IACA members joining the CRF.

Previously the policy had been that membership was open to any jurisdiction not eligible for full membership of IACA or the ECRF. This policy has been revoked and membership is open to all corporate registries (subject to the provisions of the constitution available from this site).

The CRF is the only truly global organisation for corporate registries and is committed to working with the ECRF and IACA to strengthen registry practice and share ideas.

For information on how to become a member see the How to Join page on this site.

The memorandum, signed on 11 August 2009 is aimed at:

• sharing knowledge, expertise, and best practices on business registration;
• identifying and establishing networks of professionals and officials who work in the business registration area;
• collaborating on promoting, organizing, and holding of individual or joint events;
• collaborating on the dissemination of the best practice of business registration reforms to the public through publications, the Internet, seminars, workshops, conferences and other means;
• delegating experts to participate in IFC or CRF projects, initiatives, and events;
• promoting new and innovative solutions in the area of business registration and relevant fields;
• outreaching to jurisdictions non-members of CRF in order to bring them in the CRF network; and
• utilizing and leveraging their existing resources and facilities for mutually beneficial activities.

A copy of the Memorandum is available to members upon request to the secretariat

The memorandum was signed by Divanandum Chinien the current President of the CRF and Pierre Guislain, Director, Investment Climate Department, IFC.

Doing Business 2010: Governments Set New Record in Business Regulation Reform

Washington, D.C., September 9, 2009

A record 131 economies around the globe reformed business regulation in 2008/09, according to the IFC–World Bank Doing Business 2010 report. That is more than 70 percent of the 183 economies covered by the report— the largest share in any year since the annual report was first published in 2004. And this progress came against the backdrop of a global economic crisis.

Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times recorded 287 reforms between June 2008 and May 2009, up 20 percent from the previous year. Reformers around the world focused on making it easier to start and operate businesses, strengthening property rights, and improving commercial dispute resolution and bankruptcy procedures. “Business regulation can affect how well small and midsize firms cope with the crisis and seize opportunities when recovery begins,” said Penelope Brook, Acting Vice President for Financial and Private Sector Development for the World Bank Group. “The quality of business regulation helps determine how easy it is to reorganize troubled firms to help them survive difficult times, to rebuild when demand rebounds, and to get new businesses started.”

Singapore, a consistent reformer, is the top-ranked economy on the ease of doing business for the fourth year in a row, with New Zealand as runner-up. But most of the action occurred in developing economies.

Two-thirds of the reforms recorded in the report were in low- and lower-middle-income economies. For the first time a Sub-Saharan African economy, Rwanda, is the world’s top reformer of business regulation, making it easier to start businesses, register property, protect investors, trade across borders, and access credit. Reformers were particularly active in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.

This year, there were 4 new reformers among the top 10: Liberia, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan and Moldova. Others include Rwanda, Egypt, Belarus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Colombia. Colombia and Egypt have been top global reformers in four of the past seven years.

Doing Business analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycles, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, skill level, or the strength of financial systems.

About the World Bank Group The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world.

For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.

For more information about the Doing Business report series, please visit: www.doingbusiness.org

See this years rankings www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/

The 2010 CRF conference will be hosted by The Companies Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Empowerment, Republic of Mauritius from Monday 19th - Friday 23rd April 2010.

Detailed information will be posted on this website closer to the time of the conference.

Visit the Mauritius 2010 page now.

The CRF is delighted to welcome Rwanda and Burkina Faso as its newest member jurisdictions.

More information about the Rwanda Development Board can be found on their website www.rdb.rw/

And to learn more about Burkina Faso's Corporate Formalities Center visit http://www.me.bf/