–and the Act to make it work

IN 2013, the Government of Guyana purchased the old New Building Society’s (NBS) Headquarters situated at Avenue of the Republic, which will house the Commercial Registry. Renovation of this building is being undertaken in 2014 and it is intended to house the expansion taking place in the Deeds Registry. 

This will be a specialised stand alone Commercial Registry, tasked solely with administering the Companies Act, the Business Names (Registration) Act, the Patent and Designs Act, the Bills of Sale Act, the Trade Marks Act and the Trades Union Act, and processing transactions. The Commercial Registry is a statutory body corporate and will be run by a Board.
Purchase of all equipment and financial software needed for the Registry has already been completed and work continues to further the efforts to convert the agency from a paper-based institution to a technologically advanced one.
Government is handing over power to an autonomous agency because it believes that the Deeds Registry should not remain as part of the Government’s public sector. This is because public servants have certain inabilities or enjoy certain facilities in the environment in which they operate that militates against them being efficient. The continued advances worldwide over the past two decades and more had indicated changes which see persons conducting business during lunch break and after working hours.
However, in the Guyana Public Service system, the rules require that persons cease work at particular times. It is for this reason, among others, that the body was created into a private agency and the NBS building was chosen.
The proximity of the location, right across the road from the Supreme Court Registry is another reason. Further, the building previously housed a bank which means that there are certain facilities that are uniquely suitable for the Deeds and Commercial Registries.
The building has bank vault facilities. The Registries require storage of very important documents for which this will be unique. Further, the safes and the vaults make it the most suitable building in that proximity that could accommodate the space that is required as a result of the expansions which are being carried out.

THE DEEDS AND COMMERCIAL REGISTRY AUTHORITY ACT
In January 2013, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, piloted the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority Bill through its unopposed passage in the National Assembly. The Bill provides for the establishment of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority as a corporate body, as well as a governing Board of the Authority.

It repealed the Deeds Registry Authority Act of 1999 which was never brought into operation. It however, did not separate the business of the Deeds Registry into a Deeds Unit and a Commercial Unit, allowing for specialisation and efficiency. It also did not provide for an inclusive, knowledgeable Governing Board or any Governing Board at all.
It placed the entire burden of operating the Authority, its financial responsibilities and its human resources responsibilities on the shoulders of one person, the Registrar, who is also primarily responsible for passing every single transport, mortgage, lease, and incorporating every company, registering every trademark, which is an impossible burden.
It is expected that the Authority, a semi-autonomous, corporate body, governed by an inclusive board with members experienced in commercial transactions and with ready but accountable access to its own budgeted funds, will establish functionally autonomous registries and sub-registries throughout Guyana. It is further expected that the Board will ensure that each registry is adequately staffed with competitively remunerated, qualified and capable employees, who are trained and supervised to expeditiously deliver to stakeholders the services under the Deeds and Commercial Acts.
The growth of commerce at an accelerated pace has stagnated business and commerce in Guyana to the frustration of stakeholders. What the Bill seeks to do is to facilitate the conduct of commerce and business in Guyana, and address delay faced by the stakeholders.
It addresses the issues of maintaining an accurate, up to date, secure record of ownership and transfers of land, to enable the public to easily access information on ownership and have confidence when entering into commercial transactions regarding land.
The Registry will ensure minimal bureaucracy in the decision-making process, the acquisition of materials, the training, hiring and disciplining of staff, the immediate response to issues affecting the administration of the Acts, the transaction of business under those acts and current events impacting on stakeholders.
An inclusive Governing Board will be ensuring direct input on policy, planning, implementation and supervision, by including on the board commercial stakeholder representatives, namely the Guyana Bar Association, the Guyana Association of Legal Professionals (the Berbice Bar), and the Private Sector.
Additionally involved will be primary service providers, namely the Registrar of Deeds and the Registrar of Commerce; public stakeholder representatives, namely nominees from the Ministry of Housing which processes a large number of house lot titles yearly, and the Ministry of Finance to immediately advise and provide input on budgetary and planning issues.
A specialised, stand alone Commercial Registry will be tasked solely with administering the Companies Act, the Business Names (Registration) Act, the Patent and Designs Act, the Bills of Sale Act, the Trade Marks Act and the  Trade Unions Act and processing transactions there under.
Satellite Deeds Registries and Commercial Registries will be established in Essequibo and Berbice, and throughout, as the Board deems necessary, headed by officers empowered to conduct all business of the registries.
The Bill, now an Act, also provides for the migration of current employees and officers of the Deeds Registry to the Authority on such terms and conditions which, taken as a whole, are no less favourable than those applicable at present. Officers and employees who decline migrating from the Public Service shall be referred to the Public Service Commission.
It also protects members of the Authority from proceedings being instituted against them personally for acts undertaken in execution of their lawful duties, and designates them agents of the Authority.
The Act allows the Minister of Legal Affairs to make regulations for carrying out the purpose of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Act and to make regulations under the Deeds Registry Act.

REGISTRIES GOVERNING BOARD
On May 1, 2014 pursuant to the provisions of the Act, Minister Nandlall appointed a governing board whose functional responsibility is to manage the affairs of this semi-autonomous agency.
In an invited comment from the Minister, he said, “This board is appointed in accordance with the Act and its composition was intended to capture important stakeholders that do business with the two registries.”
Members of the Governing Board of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority are as follows: Nicola Pierre, Attorney-at-Law, Chairman;  Azeena Baksh, Registrar of Deeds; (Vacant) – Registrar of the Commercial Registry, Ronald Dyal, Ministry of Finance Representative, Hannifah O. Jordan, Attorney-at-Law – Ministry of Housing and Water Representative, Rafiq T. Khan, Attorney-at-Law – Guyana Bar Association Representative, Ramesh C. Rajkumar, Attorney-at-Law – Guyana Association of Legal Professionals Representative, and Chrstine Mc Gowan, Attorney-at-Law, Private Sector Representative.