by Linda Straker
- Compliance symposium to be held on Wednesday, 19 February 2020 at the National Stadium
- All genuine non-profit, non-governmental and community-based organisations, must register with both CAIPO and AML/CTF Commission
Failure by a vast majority of non-profit organisations (NPOs) to comply with the mandatory legal requirements of administrative operations and financial reporting to state institutions, has prompted 3 of those entities to organise a “compliance symposium.”
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Anti Money Laundering and Combating Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Commission, in collaboration with the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) will be hosting the symposium on Wednesday, 19 February 2020 at the Grenada National Stadium.
It is mandated in law that all genuine non-profit organisations which are also referred to as non-governmental and or community-based organisations, register with both the CAIPO and AML/CTF Commission, but a search of public records has shown that most of the organisations have failed to comply.
There are more than 600 organisations, including churches, political organisations, foundations, charities, and all categories of civil society organisations, registered with CAIPO, located at Upper Lucas Street.
In 2014, the Grenada Government as a result of Recommendation 8 of the 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, amended the Companies Act to mandate that non-governmental organisations file their annual reports and statements to CAIPO within 15 days of an Annual General Meeting.
Failure to inform the Registrar is liable to a penalty of EC$550 per day until corrective measures are undertaken by the affected entity. However, there is no record of any entity being fined.
The Proceeds of Crime legislation under which the AML/CTF functions, mandates the annual registration of NPOs as of January 2019. Entities which fail to register with its office can be charged EC$5,000 for failing to register, and EC$300 for each day until corrective measures are taken.
The law states that once an entity is registered, the commission must publish at such intervals and in such manner as the commission determines, and books will be “open to public inspection at such times as are reasonably convenient.”
The annual registration cost with the AML/CTF ranges between EC$100 and EC$500, and a registration certificate shall be issued once approved, while NPOs who fail to comply with the mandate of the Companies Act can be struck off from the books as inactive.
“This symposium is to provide persons from non-profit organisations with information, and at the same time answer questions about the requirements in the relevant legislation,” said a representative from one of the organising bodies.
