‘Hidden investor’ database due to go public

Friday, January 20, 2023 | 1580 Views |

To the people: CIPA’s database of beneficial owners is set to go live to the public in August PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

A database maintained by the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) on beneficial owners of companies, is expected to go public in August, giving Batswana their first look at who owns what in the country, BusinessWeek has established.

By law, a ‘beneficial owner’ is defined as a person who directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise is the ultimate beneficiary of a share or other securities in a company.

Amendments to the Companies Act from 2018 and 2022 required the identities of beneficial owners of companies to be updated to CIPA’s Online Business Registration System (OBRS), the main online platform where all companies operating in the country are required to register.

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