Companies Bill pushes for corporate transparency

It says all companies defined as public interest firms, whether listed or not, will be required to maintain and make accessible detailed records of their activities. Mandisi Mpahlwa, Minister of Trade and Industry, is quoted as saying the increased emphasis on disclosure reflected the government’s desire to ensure that corporate transparency and accountability were much stronger than before. The extensive information required by the new Bill includes minutes of all directors’ ‘meetings and resolutions of directors, or directors’ committees within the previous 10 years’, minutes of all shareholders meetings and underlying documents that were necessary for shareholders to make decisions reflected in these resolutions; and detailed accounting records for the current financial year and the previous seven years. Phillip Austin, of Deloitte, believed that firms would fight to have this section changed. Full report in Business Report