Draft Companies Bill completed; consultation imminent – AG

– says Guyana working with Caricom on model Copyright Law

The draft for a Companies Bill has been completed, while in the area of Copyright Law, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government will be relying on a model Copyright Legislation being developed in conjunction with the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
This update was recently given by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, who in a recent interview with the media expressed that while Guyana has been developing its own Companies Act, both of these legislations are part of a suite of bills CARICOM has been working on.
“We are moving in the direction of a CARICOM model legislation. In the area of commerce and business, CARICOM has a suite of legislation they are creating. A Companies Act, a Trademark Act, a Copyright Act, a Business Registration Act, Insolvency and Bankruptcy, etc. So those are the areas we are working with CARICOM on, in relation with those model legislation.”
“Work is underway right now, as I speak. As I said, the business registration amendments to bring us in conformity with the CARICOM model are being worked on. The Companies Act, and Companies Bill, have been completed in draft. And we have to do another round of consultation,” he said.
Nandlall explained that these are examples of legislation that affect a wide range of sectors. As such, he made it clear that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, will be careful not to act precipitously, which could touch off dissatisfaction from the sectors most affected.
“The intention is to create a common commercial and legal space, as far as possible. Our Companies Act, Companies Bill, is undergoing its final stages… we are working. We can’t do everything at the same time. We have the most aggressive legislative agenda in the region.”
“We’re not sitting idle at all. But rather than moving unilaterally, we believe that we should move regionally. In particular, if there is a movement in that direction. If the region has agreed to move in that common direction, we would be hard-pressed to move insularly away from that direction,” Nandlall further explained.
The need for changes to the Companies Act has been highlighted by both sides, with Private Sector Commission (PSC) stalwart Ramesh Dookhoo pointing out during an Anti-Corruption workshop that ambiguities exist in the current legislation regarding private and public companies, which need to be cleared up.
Meanwhile, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had also said recently that legislative changes that will better protect shareholders in public companies could be on the horizon. During a press conference, Jagdeo spoke about public companies which usually have shareholders that range in size from small to large.
The Vice President acknowledged that there are cases where small shareholders do end up receiving the short end of the stick, for instance when a company does not declare a profit or even liquidates, and noted that they would have to review this.
Meanwhile, the need for Copyright Legislation has recently been in the spotlight, with renewed advocacy following Guyanese-born singer Jackie Hanover, popularly known as Jackie Jaxx, suing a major corporation for copyright infringement.
In September, Jax and Ivan Harry, who performs as D’Ivan, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States against One Communications (Guyana) Inc. and Tennicia De Freitas, known by her stage name NEKEITA, for the unauthorized use of their musical compositions “Guyana” and “Oh Guyana” during a rebranding event hosted by One Communications. The issue has sparked a widespread debate on Guyana’s outdated copyright laws.