After four extensions granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the free process of digital registration (reregistration) of companies, foreign companies and business names (entities) registered with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) prior to the 14 June 2019 under the Companies Act 2015, will end today.
Entities that have not digitally registered on or before December 31, 2021 will be deemed deregistered with effect from 1 January 2022. The names of the deregistered entities will be published after 31 December 2021.
Pursuant to section 609 of the Companies Act 2015, a deregistered company can write to the Registrar of Companies (within 10 years of the company being deregistered) seeking reinstatement with valid reasons explaining why the company should not have been deregistered.
If the Registrar is satisfied with the reasoning of the deregistered company then only the company may be reinstated.
For aggrieved parties, other than the company, an application must be made to the High Court requesting for reinstatement of the deregistered company, for which the person is aggrieved. Aggrieved parties could be the creditors or any other party other than the deregistered company who may have an interest in the deregistered company. If the High Court grants the order sought by the aggrieved party, the deregistered company is reinstated and the company is taken to have continued in existence as if it had not been deregistered.
The Companies (Effect of Deregistration) Regulations 2021 outlines provisions and key processes pertaining to the deregistered entities.
For more information, please contact the ROC office on phone – 3312981 or e-mail on support.roc@justice.gov.fj. You can also visit the nearest Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) or ROC office which will be open from December 29-31 2021.
