ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) today issued a circular asking companies to submit information of their ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) through filing of Form 45, required under Section 123A of the Companies Act, 2017.
The SECP will not impose any penalty on filing of overdue UBO Forms 45, if filed before August 13, 2021. The Companies (General Provision & Forms) Regulations, 2018, specify the procedure for companies to obtain, maintain and update information about their ultimate beneficial owners.
To ensure standards of transparency in the ownership and control structure of corporate entities, the government had introduced amendments to the Companies Act 2017, requiring every company to obtain information of its UBOs and file a declaration to this effect with SECP on the prescribed format i.e. Form 45.
To facilitate companies, SECP also introduced an online mechanism for submission of Form 45 and issued detailed guidelines including FAQs. A video tutorial, explaining the process of online filing of Form 45, can also be accessed at https://www.secp.gov.pk/video-tutorial-of-filing-of-form-45-with-secp-ubo-declaration/ . Companies that have not yet been able to comply with the requirements of Section 123, are encouraged to file the Declaration at earliest.
