The changes introduced by the Companies Amendment Act 2014 (Act), outlined in our September 2014 update, continue to come into effect for both newly incorporated companies and existing companies.
These changes are being phased in to ensure that existing companies have time to comply with the new requirements.
Changes under the Companies Amendment Act
2014
The new requirements under the Act include:
- All New Zealand incorporated companies must have a director who either lives in New Zealand, or a director who lives in an enforcement country (and is a director of a company incorporated in that enforcement country). Currently, Australia is the only 'enforcement country' for the purpose of this requirement.
- Directors will be required to disclose their date and place of birth. However, the intent is that this will be kept confidential by the Companies Office.
- All companies must supply their ultimate holding company details (if applicable), including:
-
Name and registration number or code (if any).
Country of registration.
Registered office.
Any other prescribed information.
Timeline
The timeline for compliance with the new requirements for newly
incorporated companies differs from those for existing companies.
We have outlined both below.
Newly incorporated companies
New Zealand companies incorporated on, or after, 1 May 2015 will
need to comply with these requirements from 1 May 2015.
Existing companies
From 1 July 2015, New Zealand companies incorporated prior to 1
May 2015 will need to disclose the date and place of birth details
of each of their directors, and supply ultimate holding company
details (if applicable) when filing annual returns.
From 29 October 2015, New Zealand companies incorporated prior to 1 May 2015 must have a director who either lives in New Zealand, or lives in Australia (and is a director of a company incorporated in Australia).
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