AG: Companies signing on to new registry system

ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour, SC, said thousands of companies are signing on to a new electronic registry system, created to improve the ease of doing business and help TT maintain its international obligations to combat corruption.

He made this disclosure on Tuesday before the Senate unanimously passed the Miscellaneous Provisions (Registrar General, Companies, Registration of Business Names, and Non-Profit Organisations) Bill, 2023, with amendments.

The bill will fully operationalise this new system, which is defined as the computer online registration system (CROS).

Armour was intrigued by Independent Senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye’s earlier description of the system as a “cross” and something which can be burdensome.

He said, “It (CROS) is not a burden that we bear.”

On the contrary, Armour said the system is already yielding positive results while it is not fully operational as yet.

Armour cited statistics available to the Government from February 1 to November 21 to support his argument that CROS was performing well.

They included 2,566 new companies formed, 159 non-profit organisations formed, 5,609 business registrations done and 50,785 individual user account registrations.

Armour said, “That is in the first trial period of an almost complete CROS, February 1 to November 21, 2023.”

He added, “We are talking about a quantum leap that we are poised to make.”

Armour said some people prefer to be prophets of doom and gloom and remain obsessed with the October 9 cyber attack on the Telecommunications Services of TT (TSTT).

“It is the latest, most current piece of bad news that can be purveyed.”

Armour said before the TSTT incident, his ministry was cyber-attacked.

He said within two days of that incident, Digital Transformation Minister Hassel Bacchus and other government officials drilled down into a very serious cyber attack on his ministry.

“We were back in business in less than three months. So that’s good news. So you don’t hear it being heralded as something unfortunate that happened to TT.”

Armour said CROS has had a relatively smooth transition period so far.

Responding to concerns raised by Opposition Senators Jayanti Lutchmedial and Jearlean John about the system being vulnerable to cyber threats, Armour said Bacchus’ earlier contribution in the debate dealt with that issue.

“We have an ongoing cyber security strategy to ensure that as we build out CROS, it is going to be as secure as we can possibly make it.”

Armour said technicians from Estonia are working with their local counterparts “to ensure that we not only build an open-source, technological, cyber-secure system but that we own it.”

He added that ownership means local experts will be able to further develop CROS over time.

Armour said temporary Opposition Senator Dr Tim Gopeesingh continues to perpetuate the false narrative that TT is blacklisted by foreign entities.

“I was struck by the irresponsibility of that statement.”

He said since February 2020, the Financial Action Task Force (FTAF) removed TT from its grey list and concluded that TT is no longer subject to active monitoring.

He said TT was placed in that situation in January 2015 because of the failure of the then UNC-led People’s Partnership coalition government to comply with the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force’s (CFATF) anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.

Armour said, “We (PNM) rescued the country from that.”