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comply with the request (previously 14 business days). It is an offence for a company to
fail to accommodate or impede any reasonable request for access, or to unreasonably
refuse access to any record that a person has a right to inspect or copy in terms of
this Section, or Section 31 (which refers to a right to access to financial statements or
related information by a person who holds or has a beneficial interest in any securities
issued by the company), or to otherwise impede, interfere with, or attempt to frustrate,
the reasonable exercise by any person of the rights set out in this Section or Section 31.
CIPC, POPIA AND PAIA
Section 187(5) of the Companies Act provides that any person may inspect a document,
or obtain a certificate of an entity that is registered at the Commission. The Commission
issued a Notice on the 30 August 2021 stating that it meets the criteria set out in
Section 38 of POPIA, in that the provision of such information to the general public is in
line with the proper discharge of its functions as a public body, and is thus exempt from
the restrictions relating to the processing of personal information imposed by POPIA.
Regulation 21: Registered Office
Every company and external company must have a registered office at which their
documents are maintained. This office must be indicated on the Notice of Incorporation.
Subject to the requirements of the MOI, a Notice of Change of Registered Office must be
filed with the Commission where applicable.
Section 32: Use of Registered Name and Number
A company or external company must:
■ Provide its full registered name or registration number on demand
■ Not misstate its name or registration number in a manner likely to mislead or deceive
any person.
The company’s registered name and registration number must be clearly displayed in
legible characters on all forms, notices and correspondence, electronic or otherwise.
This requirement applies to all bills of exchange, promissory notes, cheques and orders
for money or goods and in all letters, delivery notes, invoices, receipts and letters of
credit of the company.
It is an offence to mislead the public in this regard. Where a company has been ordered
to change its name by the Companies Tribunal, and it fails to do so, the applicant may
approach the Commission, after the expiration of the determined period, to substitute its
registration number, followed by ‘Inc’, ‘(Pty) Ltd’, ‘Limited’, or ‘SOC Ltd’ – as the name of
the company in question.
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