IRAQ Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ahmed Al-Janabi and Sarmad Akrawi, MENA Associates in association with Amereller
MENA Associates in association with AMERELLER Princess Street 7 Baghdad Baghdad Governorate Iraq
Tel: +964 780 000 3232 Fax: +44 207 691 7215 Email: baghdad@amereller.com Web: amereller.com/office/baghdad/
Developments in Corporate Governance in Iraq Over the past year, there have been numerous developments at the corporate level, most of which have concerned the requirements and fil - ing procedures with various ministries and gov - ernment offices, chiefly the Registrar of Compa - nies (RoC) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA). Regarding the filing process, both the RoC and MoLSA have introduced new filing systems as part of the broader governmental initiative to dig - italise the public sector. These portals, however, are somewhat outdated and still rely on manual review rather than automated electronic verifi - cation systems. Despite this, all companies are now required to initiate registration through the online portal and maintain an account in order to carry out any filings or related actions. While certain services must still be accessed via in- person applications, the long-term goal remains the full digitalisation of the process. Official fee payments have also been shifted to an electronic format. However, this transition has been anything but smooth, hampered by many technical issues and the general reluctance of
the public to move away from cash payments. One of the most significant obstacles is the max - imum limit on designated debit cards, which, in some instances, falls short of the required amount for payment. As for the filing itself, the process remains far from truly digital. In most cases, it involves mere - ly scanning and uploading documents for offi - cials to review manually. Often, the originals are still requested before the filing can be finalised. Consequently, some argue that this system has actually introduced more delays and complica - tions, rather than streamlining or accelerating the filing process. With regard to the new corporate filing require - ments, a number of additional obligations have been introduced, primarily by the RoC. These include: • UBO forms; • PO box registration; • local domain registration; • good standing letter from the tax office; and • good standing letter from MoLSA.
415 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook