Ministry urges charities to register before fees imposed
(CNS): Local charities and non-profit organisations (NPOs) are being urged by the financial services ministry to register before the 15 June to ensure they meet the new deadline and take advantage of the current $300 application fee waiver. Filing by 15 June will allow applications to be processed in time to meet the 31 July registration deadline, which is now a legal requirement for all charities and NPOs, the ministry said. This requirement further aligns Cayman with global regulatory standards, which recognise that financial crimes, such as money laundering, can occur through NPOs.
An NPO register is in effect and it is publicly available for people to identify registered charities.
Companies currently registered under section 80 of The Companies Law that meet the NPO definition but fail to be registered by 31 July will be struck off the Companies Register and their assets will be vested in the crown, as per The Companies Law.
Charities that do not register and continue to operate as an NPO after the 31 July registration deadline will face a $500 penalty fee for noncompliance, plus $10 for every day beyond 1 August 2018 that they fail to apply for registration, up to a maximum fine of $2,500. Additional criminal sanctions may apply to entities continuing to operate past the deadline without registering.
An entity is deemed to be an NPO if it is a company or body of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, or a trust, that is established, or which identifies itself as established, primarily for the promotion of charitable, philanthropic, religious, cultural, educational, social or fraternal objectives, or other activities or programmes for the public benefit or a section of the public within the Islands or elsewhere; and which solicits contributions from the public or a section of the public within the Islands or elsewhere.
For more information on NPOs, email Paul Inniss, the Head of Compliance in General Registry, at paul.inniss@gov.ky.
Category: Business
I sincerely hope that all charities/NPO’s have to provide annual accounts in order to remain registered and that these accounts can be published on a web site for the public to see. The accounts do not have to be audited, just signed off by EVERY board member as correct. Then we, the public, can see what each NPO is receiving and how it is spent.
No accounting then NO CHARITY/NPO status.
The whole thing is a solution in search of a problem. There are so many more important things that need fixing yet the bureaucrats would prefer bothering the charity people. I guess it’s easier than crime fighting or educating.
Actually, the Law explicitly protects the accounts submitted by the NPOs from public scrutiny. Because this Law was about helping the Govt. check the books of your service club to make sure you’re not supporting ISIS.