Defaulting companies face GH¢500 fine as ORC enforces BO filing

The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has vowed to go after companies that fail to file their Beneficial Ownership (BO) information from January 12, 2026.

This action, according to the ORC, is backed by Sections 13(2)(m) and 373(1) of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) mandating companies to declare individuals who wholly own, control, or influence their operations as provided in the First Schedule of the Act.

In a statement released on January 12, 2025, the ORC stated that the enforcement will attract a penalty of GH¢500 for defaulting companies.

File ownership details by October 30 or face penalties - ORC warns

“An individual who fails to provide Beneficial Ownership information, or knowingly provides false or misleading details, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than 150 and not more than 250 penalty units, or to a term of imprisonment of between one and two years, or to both,” the ORC noted, citing Section 35(14) and (15) of Act 992," it stated.

The ORC clarified that the filing requirement applies to both private and public businesses limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, unlimited liabilities companies, and external companies.

Meanwhile, the Acting Registrar of Companies, Maame Samma Peprah, charged the defaulting companies to regularise their operations to avoid future penalties.

Check the ORC's post below:

‼️𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄‼️

𝐎𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐄𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘,12𝐓𝐇 𝐉𝐀𝐍. 2026.#𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞 #BeneficialOwnership pic.twitter.com/aFJKc1rNn9

— ORC GHANA (@OrcGhana) January 12, 2026