The importance of the Deeds Registry and Com-mercial Registry being physically separated was one of the key findings of a forensic audit done last year of the registries.
Separation of the two registries had long been urged by attorney at law Leon Rockcliffe in a series of letters to this newspaper and it was only in January this year that a Registrar of Commerce was appointed and more spacious accommodation found for the registries in the old NBS building on High Street. The forensic audit and its report pre-dated the move to the old NBS building in January and several of its recommendations have already been implemented.
The forensic audit review of the registries posted on the Ministry of Finance’s website on Thursday said that when the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Act 2013 came into force it was expected that physically separate registries would be established to “enable accountable, accurate and efficient processing, recording, archiving and retrieval of vital land and commercial transactions.” Up to the point the forensic audit had been done the separation of the registries was still to be accomplished.
The audit report said that although the Deeds Registrar Azeena Baksh functioned in the post of Registrar of Commerce this could lead to work overload and oversight on the part of the Registrar.
“Additionally without the appointment of a Registrar of Commerce various functions of this department can be backlogged e.g. the registration of trademarks has been significantly delayed and this may be one of the prime reasons,” the report stated, adding that without the physical separation of the two registries various transactions could suffer delays. Nicole Prince has since been appointed as Registrar of Commerce.
The audit issued a string of recommendations for the registries.
It stated that the operation manual needs to be reviewed and approved by the Board so that all missing and incomplete information is contained in the manual.
The report found that internal audit positions had not been filled and therefore “internal reviews were not done to provide independent assurance that the Authority’s risk management and internal control processes are operating effectively.”
The audit report recommended that the Internal Audit position should be advertised and filled immediately.
It made a number of recommendations to improve the efficiency of operations.
It said that dedicated lines need to be re-established immediately in order to avoid delays in passing information among the three registries.
The business index should also be computerised at all locations immediately to increase efficiency.
Further, it said that each business registration certificate should be given a unique number, which will be used to easily identify the business and provide other information.
“Businesses are not given unique numbers as a result a business in Berbice could have the same number as another in Demerara. In addition, if businesses do not renew their registration their number is left vacant. It is therefore difficult to establish the number of registered businesses in Guyana at any point in time,” the report revealed.
The striking off of companies from the register needs to be done expeditiously, the audit report found.
“Striking companies off the register for not lodging annual returns along with audited financial statements has not been done in a timely manner. One clerk is assigned to notify companies, giving them 21 days’ notice to update their records or face being struck off the companies register. The process however has not been expeditious,” the report declared
It added that the Board needs to urgently inaugurate a system to efficiently process trademark applications which may include assigning additional staff to this area.
“A follow up of the Audit Office reports on trademarks was done and the processing of applications continues to be delayed. Even though the ministry’s response to this matter in their 2013 audit indicated that `by the end of 2014 there will be a significant drop in these figures as three officers are specifically assigned to deal with all the backlog and outstanding trademark matters’. During the year 2014 only 57 certificates were issued although 737 applications were received, as compared to the year 2013 when 84 certificates were issued from 772 applications. This indicates a major decline for the year 2014,” the forensic audit report stated.
All future major contracts should be approved by the Board and the relevant tender process followed, the report said, noting lapses in this area.
It said that the contract for the electrical works and external renovations at the old NBS building at Lot 1 High and Commerce streets was sole sourced to H&O. N General Con-struction for $6.7 million. Upon review of the board minutes it was found that the contract was awarded without the governing board’s approval of the work and estimates. As required by the Contract Management Procedures.
The forensic audit report said that an asset register should be maintained up to date with values for all the assets, their locations and condition status.
It stated that the Deeds and Commercial Registry should exploit its information database as a marketable resource to generate revenue by charging a fee for information.
“They should also develop a live website with company information making access easier for both stakeholders and shareholders (with capacity to grant secure ‘read only’ access to the information),” the report added.
It also proposed that random visits be made to various businesses to determine whether they are operating under a business name and whether they have registered to use that name.
The launching of a website for the Official Gazette was lauded as having reduced the need for persons to visit the registry and there is now a more efficient and user-friendly environment.
