ROC Levies Penalty of Rs. 400,000 for Late Filing of Ben-2:

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), through the Registrar of Companies (Kerala), has issued a penalty notice to Hankook Latex Private Limited for failing to comply with Section 90 of the Companies Act, 2013. This section deals with the identification and declaration of Significant Beneficial Owners (SBOs) in a firm. The notice highlights that the company did not report its SBOs within the required timelines, leading to a serious delay. Two individuals, Mr. Kwon Heechoul and Mr. Dukee Kwon, were identified as the significant beneficial owners of the company. However, the necessary forms, BEN-1 (SBO declaration) and BEN-2 (return of SBO to the Registrar), were filed almost 1,765 days late, which is nearly five years beyond the due date. Although the company later submitted the required documents, it had already admitted to the delay during the inquiry. As a conclusion, the adjudicating officer has imposed penalties on both individuals. While the law allows for a penalty of Rs. 1,000 per day of default, there is a maximum cap of Rs. 2,00,000. Both Mr. Heechoul and Mr. Kwon have been fined the maximum penalty of Rs. 2,00,000 each. Additionally, the company failed to file the required GNL-3 form to designate an officer responsible for compliance. Because of this, under Section 2(60)(iii) of the Act, all directors who were in office during the period of default are held responsible as "officers in default." In conclusion, the MCA has taken strict action to enforce timely compliance and ensure that companies correctly disclose their beneficial owners, which is important for transparency and corporate governance.