In a bid to increase the efficiency of the Registry Department, the government and the private sector has commenced several projects, key among them is one enabling a company to be entirely incorporated online, said Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson.

“Our objective is for our Registry to be the most efficient registry in the region,” Maynard Gibson told financial services practitioners at the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) 10th International Business Finance Summit (IBFS) held at Bimini Bay Resort February 1-3. Her Ministry has responsibilities for the government department.

“In relation to companies, I’ve appointed a private public sector committee, a very active one. Their mandate is to enable the incorporation of a company from name reservation to producing a certificate of a corporation entirely online,” said the minister.

“If a financial and corporate services provider is sitting in Timbuktu, they can do everything online. We are organizing that as we speak. That applies to companies whether they are incorporated under the IBC Act or the Companies Act.”

The government is also putting in place the infrastructure to have other services available online, she said. Among others, these services include: filing annual returns, obtaining certificates of good standing, certificates of dissolution and incorporation in languages other than English.

“The immediate result of this system will be that from launch on a go forward basis, it will be possible for reliable searches to be conducted of the database.”

“The objective is to systematically upgrade all company services so that they can be provided online. I am told that we are well on the way to launching this year the services previously mentioned.”

The AG encouraged the industry’s services providers to use the 10th anniversary of the summit and the country’s 40th anniversary of Independence as a time to reflect on what services should look like in the next 10 years.

She said she hopes to see The Bahamas become the best financial services destination in the region; sitting at the table where decisions are made about financial services at the regional and international level.

In the future Maynard Gibson says she hopes to see many Bahamians at the helm of top global accounting firms, offshore banks, captive insurance companies and other financial entities.

tblair@dupuch.com