Companies Office

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The New Zealand Companies Office (a business unit of the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development) is a government agency that provides business registry services in relation to corporate entities, personal property and capital market securities. It delivers nearly all its services through electronic systems and the internet.

[edit] Activities

The registers relate to companies, personal property securities, superannuation funds, incorporated societies, building societies, charitable trusts, unit trusts, friendly societies and credit unions. The office also has compliance, prosecution and enforcement functions under the Companies Act, Securities Act, Corporations (Investigation and Management) Act 1989, Financial Reporting Act along with others.

[edit] Electronic register

The Companies Office has an electronic register (http://www.companies.govt.nz) available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provides the online searching, incorporation and maintenance services for New Zealand registered companies or other body corporates.

The Companies Office was the first government corporate registry in the world to allow access over the Internet to statutory corporate information. The site went live in 1996. In 1998 the Companies Office allowed incorporation of Companies over the Internet, another world first.

[edit] Other registers

The Companies Office is also responsible for the administration of the following registers:

The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) [1] is a fully electronic register where information about security interests in personal property are recorded and searched. The PPSR is available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Motor Vehicle Traders Register (MVTR) [2]is publicly available electronic register that contains information about whether a motor vehicle trader is registered, and information about the trader's business, including its physical address.

The New Zealand Companies Office is a founding member of the Corporate Registers Forum (an international association of Corporate registries ) and is an International member of the International Assoctiation of Commercial Administrators (IACA)[3].