Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the government is on schedule to run a pilot of a digitized registrar general’s department by the first quarter of next year.
The Minnis administration approved $1.3 million last fiscal year for the transformation of that department, which would digitize information on companies in The Bahamas dating as far back as the 1930s.
“We’re on target for a Q1 pilot of the digital platform. Those who do business within the region and specifically within Cayman, the Cayman Islands platform is what we’re building and adopting. We’ve engaged the same consultant who built their platform for our platform,” Pinder said.
“We’re looking at additional opportunities to build efficiencies there. One project we’re looking at is whether it makes sense to structure the regime, in that you have a companies registrar and then a civil-based registrar for all of the domestic civil- and society-type activities. Therefore, providing a more specialized focus in a company registrar for company-type matters. Especially as we evolve the company legislative regime, we’re going to have to be responsive in that regard.”
Pinder said this digitization effort is particularly critical as the government moves to overhaul The Bahamas’ registered companies, insolvency, and bankruptcy legislative regimes.
“So that’s one thing we’re looking at internally, whether that makes sense and if it makes sense if we can do it as a matter of policy, or if we have to do it as a matter of law. We are still proceeding with the move into a more accustomed space across the street in the financial center, the architect has been engaged, the drawings have effectively been completed for the build out and that should start any day. So, we are still moving forward with the goal to be there for first quarter,” he said.
Digitization is always key and it’s always expensive. So we’re working in that regard.”
Pinder said earlier this year that in the second half of the parliamentary year the government intends to revise the Companies Act, 1992; the International Business Companies Act, 2000 and related legislation and the Companies (Winding Up) (Amendment) Act, the International Business Companies (Winding Up) (Amendment) Act, the Companies Liquidation Rules, 2012, 2013 and the Bankruptcy Act, 1870.
