232 Chartered Acc. firms serving Lanka biz–Rishad

• ‘232 Chartered Acc. firms serving Lanka biz’ –Rishad
• Says total Registered Societies at 12086!

Sri Lanka now lists companies much faster -in two days, to be exact. Meanwhile, no less than 232 Chartered accounting firms are actively serving Lanka’s business sector. “We have now modernized the day to day activities of Department of the Registrar of Companies under my Ministry. For example, if a foreigner comes to Sri Lanka and wants to register their company, facilities have been provided to do this within two days by the adoption of computers” said Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka on 11 July.

Minister Bathiudeen was making his Parliamentary statement on 11 July on the Revision of Fees Regulations Under the Extraordinary Gazette Notices No. 1841/8 (Dated 18 December 2013) and No.1847/02 (Dated 27 January 2014).  The Amendments under Societies Ordinance No.16 of 1891 proposed by Minister Bathiudeen were passed by the House on 11 July after the debate, in which country’s exports and trade became important points of discussion.

The Department of the Registrar of Companies under Minister Bathiudeen now issues the Certificate of Registration for a Limited Liability Company in no less than two working days. Speedy name approvals are performed in just one day. These faster services are made available provided applicant’s submitted documents are in order.

“I present to the House regulations under the Companies Act and the Societies Ordinance. Companies registered under the Act are required to pay service charges. This amendment will help to improve the income of the Department of the Registrar of Companies. During the four year period from 2009 to 2013 over 1,000 associations have been registered with the department, increasing the total number of registrations upto about 12,000. The charges have been revised with the consent of the government Treasury. We have now modernized the day to day activities of Department of the Registrar of Companies. For example, if a foreigner comes to Sri Lanka and wants to register their company, facilities have been provided to do this within two days by the adoption of computers. Our data storage system has also been computerized and upgraded” Minister Bathiudeen said.

Minister Bathiudeen further stated: “After 50 years from 1964’s amendment, these latest amendments have been made to meet the current requirement, by focusing on the changes of the auditing standards, Sri Lanka Accounting standards and legal framework, and for the enhancement of the professional quality of the registered auditors and recovering of the government cost incurred. In fact, I am pleased to say that today we have a total of 795 individuals registered as auditors who are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, 569 individuals registered as auditors who are Retired Assessors, Government Accountants, persons of Audit Superintendent Service, and Accounting Diploma and holders from the Technical colleges, 232 Chartered accountancy firms and 43 Registered auditing firms actively serving the businesses of Sri Lanka. Also in the 2010-2013 four year period, 274 auditors newly registered and a strong 1665 auditors renewed their registrations. From 2009-2013, 1602 societies were newly registered bringing the total number of Registered Societies to 12086. Registrar General of Companies under my Ministry should also act as Registrar of Societies under the section 02 of the Societies Ordinance. The Minister was empowered by the section 19 of the Societies Ordinance to impose the Fees in relation to the Ordinance. Societies such as Mutual welfare societies, and especially authorized societies can be registered under this Ordinance. The members of this August House too would agree that Rs 10 charged for Registration of Society, Rs 5 charged for Amendment of Articles of Society, Rs 1 charged for Issue of Certified copy of Society, the free of charge service for Filling of Annual Report of Society, and fifty cents charged for File search of Society are completely inadequate and do not justify the level of services expected from this important department. Current fees structure had been imposed in 1954 and are not changed since then thereby these revenues becoming totally inadequate. In view of this approval was asked from General Treasury to increase the current fees and it was granted. Therefore this fee amendment, which is made with the intention of providing better services, is a positive development for the progress of this important department. These Fees Regulations have been made by using Extra Ordinary Gazette Notices No. 1841/8 dated 18.12.2013 and No.1847/02 dated 27.01.2014. Accordingly, only Rs 10 charged for Registration of Society, Rs 5 charged for Amendment of Articles of Society, Rs 1 charged for Issue of Certified copy of Society, the free of charge service for Filling of Annual Report of Society, and fifty cents charged for File search of Society are all have been revised. Again I believe the members of this August House too would agree that these revisions are minimal amounts and in par with current rates and more importantly, clearly justifies the level of services expected from this important department. Finally Hon Sir, I stress that the Department of Registrar of Companies functioning under my Ministry is always ready to serve the businesses and their development in Sri Lanka to their maximum capacities and thereby support the realization of the Mahinda Chinthana development vision of the HE the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.”