Wednesday, November 18 2020 marked the official reformed of the Vanuatu Association of Accountants with a new committee.
Mr. Marokon Alilee, current Chairman of the VAA, was also one of the funding members of the Association when it first established in December 2003.
The core objectives of the Association remain the same, to promote the interests of Accountants in Vanuatu and the services provided by accountants within the local community. This will be achieved through education, training, technical support and advocacy. Members will work to represent the views and concerns of the profession to governments, regulators, industries, academia and the general public.
Annual fee:
Ordinary – Vt5,000
Associate – Vt2,500
Studen – Vt1,000
Corporate – Vt20,000 (includes up to two (2) person memberships)
Committee Members:
Chairman Marokon Alilee
Vice Chairman John Aruhuri
Secretary Shirley Bule
Treasurer Chloe Rolland
Committee Member Delmay Shem
Committee Member Francis Simelum
Committee Member Scott Proud
As well as AJC three leading Vanuatu Accounting firms: iCOUNT, Barrett and Partners and Moores Rowland, have joined the Association.
Find more details on the Vanuatu Association of Accountants on the new website: vaa.vu
An executive committee of six agents of Vanuatu’s Financial Broker Licensing Program (FDL), including AJC, launched FMA Vanuatu as a self-regulatory body for license holders who provide retail traders with platforms to buy and sell financial instruments and securities online. The committee established the association as a non-profit organization.
FMA Vanuatu’s aims are “to develop, implement and uphold the highest professional standards in order to protect our industry from financial crime, earn the trust of our partners and clients and contribute to the long-term prosperity of Vanuatu,” according to the association’s mission statement.
In addition to helping its members comply with the highest online trading standards, the association’s will set up a disciplinary committee of peers and government regulators to arbitrate complaints and implement sanctions in accordance with the FDL program, which was established in 2016 and is overseen by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).
Find more details on the Financial Markets Association of Vanuatu on the new website: fma.vu
The founding members of FMA Vanuatu on the rooftop of our new office in Port Vila. Left to right: Roy McDonald (Company Services Limited – digitally added using photo editing software), Sharon Vuti (Moores Rowland), Margaux Carel (AJC), Martin St-Hilaire (AJC), Mathilde Auger (Law Partners), Preyanka Philip (iCount), Daniel Agius (iCount), Mark Stafford (Barrett & Partners), Jonathan Law (Law Partners).
Charitable Association in Vanuatu are established for the benefits of the community. Such associations must be set up for “charitable purposes”. These include the following purposes:
Religious
Educational
Cultural
Scientific
Sports
General social welfare or
Another non-profit purpose declared by Minister.
In order to obtain the status of a corporate body and thus obtain all the rights and privileges attached to the status of a legal entity. An association must have its committee incorporated by the Vanuatu Financial Service Commission (VFSC).
Incorporating committees provides charities with many of the same benefits enjoyed by companies. In particular, when a committee is incorporated.
The committee may:
Hold assets (e.g. equipment or land).
Hold and incur liabilities.
Enter into contracts (subject to certain restrictions).
Incorporation process for Charitable Association in Vanuatu
Incorporating a charitable Association with the VFSC is a fairly simple and straight forward process. In addition, it can even be done online on the VFSC website. In order to do it, the prescribed form should be used and you must provide the following information:
The name of the committee.
The names, addresses and occupations of the committee members.
The registered office of the committee.
The objects of the association.
Certified copy of the articles, rules, constitution of association, and a statement of assets and liabilities.
IMPORTANT
A charitable association is considered as a reporting entity by the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit. As such, it should comply with all the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2018.
In particular, all members of the Association will be required to submit to the VFIU a set of notarised key identification documents.
For more information contact us or the VFIU directly.
Legal obligations for Charitable Associations
Governance
The only requirement pertaining to governance for an association to be incorporated is to have a minimum of six members.
Registered office
A committee incorporated shall have a registered office at which any legal process may be served.
Reporting obligations
Annual reports
A committee must provide to the registrar a report in the prescribed form on the operations of the Committee. The report must be provided within 3 months after the anniversary of the creation of the committee.
An annual report filling fee should be paid upon submission of the annual report.
The annual report outlines the activities and other details of the charitable association over the previous 12 months. It also includes details on whether it had operations only in Vanuatu, or in Vanuatu and other countries. In addition, if it undertook activities in all or any of the following sectors:
Religious.
Educational.
Cultural.
Scientific.
Sports.
General social welfare and community development.
Political Party.
Financial details, including income and expenses.
On the request of the Registrar, additional documents may be requested justifying the above details.
Reports in case of changes
A committee must give the registrar written notice of a change in any or all of the following within 30 days after the change occurs:
The registered office of the committee;
the articles, rules or constitution of the association;
A key person;
The circumstances of a key person that may affect whether he or she meets fit and proper criteria;
The rules or policies relating to the source of funds of the committee.
Specific reporting: in case of transfer of lands
A committee incorporated hereunder shall lodge with the Minister not less than 15 days before the transfer, details of any transfer of any interest in land that it intends to make.
Sanctions
The law foresee a number of sanctions in case on non-respects of the provisions and requirements mentioned above.
These sanctions can range from removal of the Association from the register to financial fines.
Fees & Fines
You want to create your Charitable Association in Vanuatu?
AJC Vanuatu has been a proud partner of the Ratua Foundation for several years now.
We are very attached to the development of our community.
We wish to encourage and promote the initiatives and activities carried out in the country in various fields: humanitarian, culture, sport, education, health, …
About Ratua Foundation
The Ratua Foundation has its headquarters on the island of Ratua, located in the south of the island of Santo. Ratua is a very small private island located between the island of Aore and the island of Malo.
The foundation was created in December 2009 with the aim of improving the education conditions for children in Vanuatu.
Currently, the association is involved in various projects and on broader themes, such as: schools, books, infrastructure, water and electricity networks, etc,…
AJC is an advisory and accounting firm established in Vanuatu since 2003. We offer a wide range of company services such as Audit and Accounting services. But also, incorporation of local and offshore companies, corporate secretariat and support to investors seeking to obtain different kinds of licences issued by Vanuatu administration. In addition, we help individual applying for Vanuatu Citizenship under the Development Support Program (DSP).
AJC has a team of fully English/French bilingual lawyers and accountants. They are able to assist you in all the steps of your citizenship application in Vanuatu. We uniquely combine professionals from the legal side to professionals from accounting and finance side. In order to provide our customers relevant advice and useful professional services.
For further information about Charitable Association
