CIPO Grants Deadline Extension for Company Re-Registration

The Companies & Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced an extension to the period for all registered companies operating within Montserrat to Friday, May 2, 2025.

The CIPO says the extension provides companies with additional time to ensure compliance with the Companies Act 2023, 2024 Companies Regulations and 2024 Persons with Significant Control Regulations.

All companies currently registered must, therefore take steps to re-register via the online portal at cipo.fsc.ms.

Re-registration is a prerequisite for filing annual returns, which can only be done through the Online CIPO Portal.

Consequently, with this new extension period for company re-registration, Annual Returns will be due immediately once the company has been successfully re-registered. Hard copies of Annual Returns or company registration/incorporation are no longer accepted.

According to the CIPO, failure to comply with the re-registration requirements by the new deadline of Friday, May 2, 2025, will result in the company deemed de-registered from the Register of Companies, effective 03 May 2025.

This means that the company will no longer be a legally registered entity, and if operations continue, will be deemed illegal under Montserrat’s laws.

Companies who wish not to be re-registered can submit the same in writing before the deadline, addressed to Fabian Singh, Commissioner & Registrar of Companies via email at commissioner@fsc.ms and companies.registry@fsc.ms or directly to the Financial Services Commission, Valley View, Brades, Montserrat.

Notably, companies who choose not to be re-registered under the Companies Act 2023 must be registered under another applicable legislation to continue operations legally.

Registered Agent Companies that are considered to be a reporting company as defined by the Companies Act 2023 are required to have a registered agent that is a licensed company manager in accordance with section 79 of the Act.

A reporting company as defined by the Act is a large or public company.

It is further defined by the Companies Regulations 2024 as a company whose annual gross revenue exceeds four million EC dollars, or the value of their annual assets exceed two million EC dollars.

Foreign and external companies also require licensed company managers, while other companies may designate a resident director or licensed company manager.

Note, local companies with annual assets and income not exceeding the threshold of 2 million or 4 million dollars respectively, may designate a local resident who is a proposed director of the company as its registered agent.