Financial services filing deadlines extended

The Registrar of Companies and the Department for International Tax Cooperation have extended the filing deadlines for annual returns and economic substance notifications.

The annual return filing deadline has been extended until 30 June, and this will apply to all companies, including limited liability companies and foundation companies. Penalties for failure to file will come into force on 1 July.

As a result of the annual-return extension for companies, the deadline for economic substance notification filings is now 30 June.

The economic substance notification remains a prerequisite for companies to successfully file their annual returns.

“As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are aware that the financial services industry may be dealing with some disruptions to regular operations,” Financial Services Minister Tara Rivers said in a press release.

She said extending the filing deadlines is one of the government measures implemented to ensure businesses can continue to operate in the current circumstances and to lessen some of the administrative challenges.

In addition to the filing extension, the registrar of companies will accept affidavits or other documents that have been notarised or certified online.

General Registry previously announced a one-month extension for beneficial ownership submissions. The extension went into effect on Monday, 23 March and and runs until 20 April.

The new filing deadlines gives government’s digital beneficial ownership platform time to come online and allows corporate service providers to retrieve information from their overseas clients and to transition to electronic filings.

Notification deadlines have also been pushed back for reporting changes to the directors and officers of limited liability companies, registered office addresses, the memorandum and articles of association or the share capital of an entity.

An advisory by the ministry issued on 20 March noted that no penalties will apply to these relevant filings before 30 April.