Officials are to report on whether New Zealand registered companies should have a resident director, after concerns arose following the seizure of a plane last month carrying North Korean arms at Bangkok airport.Auckland-registered SP Trading Ltd -- part
Officials are to report on whether New Zealand registered companies should have a resident director, after concerns arose following the seizure of a plane last month carrying North Korean arms at Bangkok airport.
Auckland-registered SP Trading Ltd -- part of a web of companies formed by GT Holdings of Vanuatu -- was used to charter a Georgian plane to fly the 35 tonnes of explosives and anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.
Commerce Minister Simon Power said today he had asked officials to provide advice on whether key aspects of company registration could be strengthened, following recent concerns about this country's registration process.
Requiring a New Zealand resident director would be consistent with requirements in such countries as Australia, Canada and Singapore, Mr Power said.
Other matters being reported on are whether:
- directors should be required to provide date-of-birth information to the Registrar of Companies, to help verify their identity;
- the provision of a tax number should be a requirement for all companies upon registration; and
- the Registrar should be able to suspend the registration of companies where there are concerns about the bona fides of people involved or the integrity of information supplied in relation to a company.
Mr Power said the Registrar had advised of a recent increase in New Zealand company registrations with only overseas directors and shareholders.
That was a particular area he was looking at, with about 56 such companies registering out of a total of 1125 since January 1.
At the same time it was essential this country maintain its highly efficient and effective regime for registering companies.
A recent Financial Action Taskforce's (FATF) assessment of this country's compliance with its international anti-money laundering and terrorist financing standards showed it was on a par with major trading partners, assessed as being compliant with 13 of 16 FATF core recommendations, Mr Power said.
Meanwhile, the Registrar of Companies was continuing to investigate those involved with the registration of SP Trading Ltd.
"But I'm advised that on the information available there is nothing that could have been done under the current company registration requirements to prevent the registration of SP Trading Ltd, or its activities."
