Business Barbados ramps up support for nonprofits

Business Barbados, the newly restructured successor to the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO), is ramping up support for nonprofit companies and charities as it moves to expand its role beyond a traditional corporate registry.

During the organisation’s compliance forum at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Tuesday, officer-in-charge Tameisha Rochester explained that the restructured agency is focused on improving business facilitation and support services across the island.

“We’ve seen as part of Business Barbados’ mandate, which is to be more than just a registry but to also provide support and facilitation services for businesses, we’ve seen businesses taking advantage of that. We’ve also seen the nonprofit sector taking advantage of that,” Rochester said, noting that early feedback had been encouraging.

“For this particular session we’ve already had lots of positive feedback… it is something that has been missing from the landscape for quite some time.”

The two-day forum is specifically targeting nonprofit organisations, including charities and nonprofit companies, with a series of public education sessions designed to improve regulatory adherence and governance practices.

“Today we are presenting two sessions to nonprofit organisations… to allow them to bring their records in a state of compliance..

“It is also for us to explain to them the purpose of compliance, to identify for them how nonprofit companies and charities can be misused for illicit activities, and also to equip them with the skills and the tools to identify their risks and to be able to apply the correct measures to prevent this from happening,” Rochester said.

The forum also brings together key partners to provide technical guidance, including the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados, all contributing expertise in areas such as anti-money laundering and regulatory compliance.

In a move aimed at encouraging participation, Rochester revealed that Business Barbados is offering relief to organisations struggling to meet filing requirements.

“As part of our bid to get these entities into compliance, we have been able to facilitate a waiver of their late penalties… essentially to bring them into a state of compliance,” she said.

“So we know there are penalties for late filing and noncompliance; however, we are trying to really reset the stage for the nonprofits without the financial burden.”

Rochester urged organisations that missed the opening day to attend the remaining sessions on Wednesday.

“So we’re here for two days, [and] there are four sessions across the two days. Persons who were not able to make it today are free to come tomorrow. The sessions are completely free.”