Dear Andre

Following a meeting of the Cipro Liaison Committee on 24 February 2011, it was felt that the following should be communicated to members as a matter of urgency in preparation for the implementation of the new Companies Act and the new Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (The Commission).

Please take note of the following changes which are to be implemented on 1 April 2011, and the consequences of these changes.

Effective date 1 April 2011
The DTI is determined to have the Commission and the Act in effect on 1 April 2011. However, the following still needs to happen before 1 April 2011 for the above to take effect:

• Companies Amendment Bill still to be completed
• Companies Amendment Bill to go through Parliament
• Companies Amendment Bill to be signed by President
• Companies Amendment Bill effective date to be gazetted
• Regulations and Forms to be completed and signed off
• The National Assembly has scheduled to meet on 1, 2 and 9 March 2011 to deliberate and formally consider the Bill

The Commission
On 25 March 2011 the new Commission will be launched, and will become active from 1 April 2011. The names of the appointed commissioner and deputy commissioner are expected to be made public at this launch.

All documentation, applications and lodgements received by Cipro up to and including 31 March 2011, will be processed in accordance with the current ('old') Companies Act, with submissions taking place on the current CM / CK forms. From 1 April all applications have to be submitted on the new forms and comply with the new Companies Act requirements.

A new website will be launched as of 1 April 2011, which must be used from then onwards. Cipro has developers working around the clock in order for this website to be ready for implementation on 1 April 2011.

Consequences of change over on 1 April 2011

• Urgent action required before 31 March 2011:
  Cipro has advised that as far as possible the following should be brought forward to early March 2011 due to operational uncertainties and tight deadlines around the implementation of the Commission on 1 April 2011:
• Lodge all outstanding Annual Returns
• Lodge all restoration requests for de-registrations
• Lodge all name reservation requests
• Lodge any application for new CC's (no new registrations after 1 April 2011)
• Utilise agents account balance as far as possible
• Implication of delaying above until after 1 April 2011:
• Using new forms which are only expected to be finalised around 25 March 2011
• Agent codes will have changed - need to re-apply
• Balance on the old agent account will be refunded
• Will lose entity name if entity not restored by 31 March 2011
• Rush on system towards end of March 2011 to beat 1 April 2011 will cause delays
• Applications will have to comply with new act and regulations, of which the final versions have not yet been signed off

Cipro plans to publish guides and FAQs on the new website to assist members with regards to the new forms and requirements of the Commission from 1 April 2011.

Cipro is employing every effort to make the transition a smooth one; however they acknowledge that the timeline is extremely tight. They are using all resources available in an attempt to reduce the backlog, and to ensure that come 1 April 2011, they are ready to convert to the Commission.

We ask members for your cooperation in lodging the above mentioned items early and ask for your patience during this time.

Kind regards

Small and medium practices unit