“Tick tock”. All companies – countdown to the “MOI” deadline! - Guthrie & Theron

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by” – Douglas Adams

You have until 30 April 2013 to bring your shareholder agreements and your company’s “MOI” (what used to be called your “Memorandum and Articles of Association” is now a “Memorandum of Incorporation”) into line with the new Companies Act.

And you really don’t want to hear this deadline “whooshing by” – if you do, you risk invalidity of your existing agreements and founding documents. From 1 May 2013, these will be void to the extent that they contravene or conflict with the provisions of the new Companies Act. And that could have extremely serious consequences for your company, its directors and shareholders.

Don’t procrastinate on this one!

Take professional advice now on how to structure your MOI and shareholder agreements. If you delay, you risk not only the legal issues mentioned above but also extra cost (you will miss the window period to lodge with CIPC free of charge) and delay (both your advisors and CIPC will inevitably come under workload pressure as the deadline approaches).

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