Presented by Competition Authority Botswana

1. CORPORATE REGISTRIES,
INVESTOR PROTECTION AND
FAIR COMPETITION
Tebelelo Pule- CEO
24 MAY 2018
Gaborone
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2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
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Definition
Value of corporate registry to investors
Value of corporate registry to
compe??on
How CA collaborates with CIPA
Conclusions

3. A corporate register has been defined as a centralised
storehouse of corporate informa?on. This is achieved
through ac?vi?es such as filing of documents,
registra?on of companies and ending with dissolu?on
of companies.
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DEFINITION

4. CORPORATE REGISTRY IN BOTSWANA
In Botswana this informa?on is all housed at CIPA.
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5. INVESTOR PROTECTION
Ø Investors generally assume that when they invest
money in a legal business they will get a return on their
investments.
Ø Company registra?on is one form of providing
guarantees or insurance that investments made will not
be lost- through fraud.
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6. INVESTOR PROTECTION CONTD
Ø Investors are shareholders or members of the company.
They contribute to the equity capital, have vo?ng rights
and are en?tled to a dividend. Protec?on of investors
means to safeguard and ensure that their rights are
enforceable.
Ø Some investors have limited knowledge and experience
regarding working capital, markets, stock exchanges,
opera?ng through intermediaries and they can be
exploited and supplied with misleading informa?on.
They need special protec?on. Their interests can be
protected by educa?on and enforcement of their rights.
Ø Strong shareholder is an important predictor of FDI.
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7. FAIR COMPETITION AND CORPORATE REGISTRY
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Ø Compe??on is essen?ally about delivering efficient markets
and promo?ng and protec?ng consumer welfare
Ø Fair Compe??on is predicated upon an efficient company
registra?on system
Ø A lot of decision making on a compe??ve environment is
dependent upon an effec?ve corporate registry (data). For
example, the synergy between the Compe??on Authority
and CIPA allows for the valida?on of the authen?city of
merging en??es’ registra?on informa?on i.e. shareholding,
subsidiaries (cross shareholding) as well as the registered
office of the business.

8. FAIR COMPETITION AND INVESTOR PROTECTION
Ø Compe??on law and investor protec?on are
both concerned with making guarantees,
safeguards and enforcement.
Ø Investors require compe??on; removal of
restric?ve business prac?ces; and fair
compe??on requires certain guarantees too.
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9. COMPETITION AND CORPORATE REGISTRY
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A number of fair compe??on processes are dependent on reliable
company data:
Ø Mergers and acquisi?ons require computa?on of market shares,
knowledge of players in par?cular sectors
Ø Market Intelligence and research: requires knowledge of new
companies and ac?ve players in the various sectors
Ø Inves?ga?ons of an?-compe??ve conduct requires the
knowledge of the market under inves?ga?on
Ø In most of its interven?ons the Authority carries out an economic
analysis which is informed by credible data

10. COLLABORATION WITH CIPA
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Ø The Authority has an MOU with CIPA
Ø Because of this MOU the Authority Has been
able to efficiently complete some mergers
within the prescribed statutory ?melines
Ø In return CIPA is able to update their records
on company informa?on due to the resultant
mergers.

11. CONCLUSIONS
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Ø Fair compe??on and consumer welfare are
served by a well func?oning corporate registry
Ø In Botswana, CIPA is facilita?ng fair
compe??on by collabora?ng with the CA
Ø Botswana is made a[rac?ve to poten?al
investors through the establishment of market
regulatory frameworks such as CIPA and the CA