New measures will combat the misuse of NZ companies

The Government has agreed new measures that will make it a requirement to provide accurate information about who ultimately owns or controls a company or limited partnership – its ‘beneficial owner’. This will enable people to see more clearly who it is they are doing business with.

A unique identifier will also be assigned to all beneficial owners, directors of companies and general partners of limited partnerships, allowing the Companies Office to confidently link individuals with all entities they are associated with. These links will be publicly displayed.

An additional benefit of these unique identifiers is that the residential addresses of company directors will no longer need to be made publicly available on the Companies Office website, if they opt to provide an address for service instead.

A Bill introducing these reforms will be brought to Parliament in late 2022, following a public consultation on an exposure draft.

Read the media release on the Beehive website: 

Govt cracks down on misuse of NZ companies(external link) — beehive.govt.nz

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