January 6,2022
THE number of companies registered on the online registry system, MyCO, exceeded 8,000 in 2021, the statistics released by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) indicated.
The registration and re-registration of companies on the MyCO website commenced on 1 August 2018 keeping in line with the Myanmar Companies Law 2017.
Last year, the number of registered companies on MyCO was 1,373 in January, 188 in February, 163 in March, 254 in April, 686 in May, 775 in June, 433 in July, 360 in August, 733 in September, 1,027 in October, 936 in November and 1,083 in December, totalling 8,011 the DICA’s statistics showed.
At present, 100 per cent of the applicants are using the online registration platform, the DICA stated. The figures of registered companies stood at 15,080 in 2020, 17,380 in 2019 and 8,506 in 2018, as per statistics of the DICA.
When the online registry was launched in August 2018, the previously registered companies also had to make re-registration on MyCO, with 46,377 companies between 1 August 2018 and 31 January 2019. In addition, all registered companies need to file annual returns (AR) on the MyCO registry system within two months of incorporation, and at least once every year (not later than one month after the anniversary of the incorporation), according to Section 97 of the Myanmar Companies Law 2017. According to Section 266 (A) of the Myanmar Companies Law 2017, public companies must submit annual returns and financial statements (G-5) simultaneously.
All overseas corporations must submit ARs in the prescribed format on MyCO within 28 days of the financial year ending under Section 53 (A-1) of the Myanmar Companies Law 2017. According to DICA’s report, about 16,000 companies were suspended so far for failing to submit AR forms within the due date. Newly established companies are required to submit ARs within two months of incorporation or face a fine of K100,000 for filing late returns.
The DICA has notified that any company which fails to submit its AR within 13 months will be notified of its suspension (I- 9A). If it fails to submit the AR within 28 days of receiving the notice, the system will show the company’s status as suspended. Companies can restore their status only after shelling out a fine of K50,000 for AR fee, K100,000 for reinstatement of the company on the Register, and K100,000 for late filing of documents. If a company fails to restore its status within six months of suspension, the registrar will strike its name off the register, according to the DICA notice. —NN/GNLM
