Grey listing has prompted a closer look at the mechanics of company registration in Papua New Guinea. At the centre of that machinery sits the Investment Promotion Authority, the agency responsible for maintaining the country’s corporate records.
Papua New Guinea was placed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2024, after assessors found weaknesses in the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework. The listing does not impose sanctions, but it signals to international banks and investors that enhanced monitoring is required.
At the time, Prime Minister James Marape said the government would treat the decision as a reform opportunity rather than a setback.
“We accept the findings and we will fix what needs to be fixed,” he said, committing the country to work through an agreed action plan with regulators and international partners.
Within that reform agenda, corporate transparency has emerged as a central theme.
The IPA’s registry system holds the official record of companies incorporated in Papua New Guinea. In ordinary circumstances, it functions as an administrative database. Under grey-list scrutiny, it becomes a key compliance tool.
Managing Director Clarence Hoot says international expectations have shifted.
“Previously, the focus was whether you had the laws,” he says. “Now the question is how effective those laws are — and whether you can show evidence that they are working.”
One of the principal measures IPA is advancing is the creation of a Beneficial Ownership Registry.
Under the current online system, the public can search for company details, including listed shareholders and directors. What is not always apparent are the individuals who ultimately benefit from, or control, a company through layered or nominee arrangements.
“Beneficial ownership refers to the people behind a company — the people hidden behind a company,” Mr Hoot explains. “At the moment, there is nothing obligating them to make sure those people benefiting behind the scenes are included in the registry. The amendments will make it compulsory.”
Proposed amendments to the Companies Act — now before Parliament — will require companies to disclose those ultimate beneficiaries. IPA says the technical platform for the registry is prepared and can be activated once the legislation is enacted.
Access to beneficial ownership information will be restricted to investigative agencies, including police and anti-corruption bodies. The intention is to assist in tracing financial flows where wrongdoing is suspected, rather than to create an unrestricted public database.
The initiative forms part of a broader compliance effort.
IPA has also replaced the Associations Incorporation Act 1966 with the Associations Incorporation Act 2023. Once regulations are finalised, associations across the country will be required to re-register and provide updated governance information, including details of committee members and activities.
International standards recognise that non-profit organisations can present vulnerabilities if reporting obligations are weak. Strengthening oversight is aimed at reducing that exposure.
Digital reform underpins much of IPA’s strategy. The move to an online registry has reduced the need for businesses to travel to Port Moresby to lodge documents, allowing filings to be made remotely.
However, uneven internet access remains a constraint, particularly outside major centres. Expanding connectivity is seen as important if compliance systems are to operate consistently nationwide.
The response to grey listing is coordinated through a National Coordinating Committee, bringing together regulators, law enforcement agencies and financial supervisors. Progress is monitored against a set of agreed action items.
For IPA, the emphasis is procedural: ensuring that company records capture not only formal directors and shareholders, but the individuals who ultimately stand behind corporate entities.
Grey listing has heightened scrutiny, but officials describe it as a structured pathway to reform.
The Beneficial Ownership Registry will not, on its own, determine Papua New Guinea’s removal from the list. It is one element in a wider effort to demonstrate that transparency measures are not simply written into law, but are operational, accessible and enforceable.
In that respect, the work is technical, incremental and ongoing — focused less on rhetoric than on the integrity of the records themselves.
