CRF Qatar 2024 Annual Conference Agenda

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Please refer to the listing below for the most recent agenda and details.

Updated on: 06 November 2024

Conference Agenda
Nov 3 Nov 4 Nov 5 Nov 6 Nov 7

Sunday, November 3 – Thursday, November 7

Sunday, November 3 (Day 0)
19.00 – 22.00 Pre-conference reception and registration at Marsa Katara
Monday, November 4 (Day 1)
Highlights of the Day: Opening Ceremony, Host Country Updates
Theme of the Day: Future Registries
Venue: Hotel Le Royal Méridien Doha, Lusail, Doha, Qatar
08.30 – 09.30 Registration and Networking (60 mins)
08.30 – 09.15 CRF President’s Meeting with Presidents of other Associations (Invite only)
09.30 – 11.00 Inauguration Ceremony (90 mins)
 
  • Welcome Speech by Nasser Al Taweel, Conference Director, and CLO & Deputy CEO, Qatar Financial Centre Authority
  • Presidential Address by Louise Smyth, President of CRF; and CEO of UK Companies House and Registrar of Companies for England and Wales
  • Inaugural Address by Yousuf Al-Jaida, CEO of Qatar Financial Centre Authority
  • Members Roll Call by Martin Fidler Jones, General Secretary of CRF
  • Host Country Updates:
    • Dr Ghada Darwish Karbon on Legal System in Qatar
    • Yanal Qatami on Doing Business in Qatar
11.00 – 11.20 Coffee Break (20 mins)
11.20 – 11.50 Conference Session 1 (Presentation - 30 mins)
 
  • Use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in Registries
  • Speakers: Aditya Sinha, QFC; Seema Borkhataria, QFC
11.50 – 12.30 Conference Session 2 (Panel Discussion - 40 mins)
 

Business registers as service providers: leveraging registry data

  • Organisational digital identity
  • Added value dashboards
  • APIs for mass consumption
  • What the public can do with our data

Moderator: La Donna John, Belize

Speakers:

  • Charlie Boundy, UK Companies House
  • Marco Vianello, InfoCamere
  • Johanna Konrad, Moody’s
12.30 – 13.50 Group Photo Session and Lunch Break (80 mins)
13.50 – 14.20 Conference Session 3 (30 mins)
 
  • Role of Legal Entity Identifiers
  • Bringing sustainability reporting costs to an acceptable level for SMEs

Moderator: Chin Li Fen, ACRA, Singapore

Speakers:

  • Ricco Dun, GLEIF
  • Chris Taggart, OpenCorporates
14.20 – 15.00 Conference Session 4 (Panel Discussion - 40 mins)
 

Future of registries, challenges and priorities

  • Digitisation and AI
  • Building Capabilities for Future of registry
  • How registries can use data to improve their services

Moderator: Tuifa’asisina Sieni Tualega-Voorwinden, Samoa International Finance Authority (SIFA)

Speakers:

  • Charlie Boundy, UK Companies House
  • Chin Li Fen, ACRA, Singapore
15.00 – 15.20 Coffee Break (20 mins)
15.20 – 15.40 Conference Session 5 (Presentation - 20 mins)
 

Regulation of Company Service Providers

Presenter: Wren Wu, Companies Registry, Hong Kong, China
15.40 – 16.00 Conference Session 6 (Presentation - 20 mins)
 

Registry Updates: Turkiye

Presenter: Dr. Recep Bozer, Ministry of Trade, Turkiye
  END OF DAY 1 of the CONFERENCE
19.00 – 22.00 Cultural Gala Dinner at Sharq Village Resort
Tuesday, November 5 (Day 2)
Highlights of the Day: Half day conference, half day social outing
Theme of the Day: Role of Registries in tackling economic crimes and enabling sustainable growth
Venue: Hotel Le Royal Méridien Doha, Lusail, Doha, Qatar
08.40 – 09.00 Networking (20 mins)
09.00 – 09.10 Recap of the previous day (10 mins)
  Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary
09.10 – 09.50 Conference Session 7 (Discussion - 40 mins)
 

Strategic intelligence assessment and compliance framework, at Companies House, UK

Moderator/MC: La Donna John, Belize Companies & Corporate Affairs Registry

Speaker: Martin Swain, UK Companies House
10.00 – 10.20 Coffee Break (20 mins)
10.20 – 11.50 Conference Session 8 (90 mins)
 

Regional enforcement challenges, monitoring, enforcement, and effective penalty regimes (50 mins)

Regional Sessions in separate rooms for:

  • Africa and Middle East
  • Europe
  • Asia and Pacific

Moderator: Bolen Ng, New Zealand

Regional Rapporteurs:

  • MEA: Monaheng Monaheng, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Lesotho
  • EU: Celia Johnson, Judge, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • APAC: Chin Li Fen, ACRA, Singapore

Global Discussion (40 mins)

  • Regional reflections
  • Validity of data
  • Discrepancy reporting and whistleblowing

Speakers:

  • Martin Swain, UK Companies House
  • Charlie Boundy, UK Companies House
11.50 – 12.00 Sponsor Presentation: “Does Your Business Registry Meet the Needs of Today’s Entrepreneurs?”
  Presenter: Ieva Tarailienė, NRD Companies
12.00 – 12.30 Conference Session 9 (30 mins)
 

UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Key Principles of a Business Registry

Presenter: Monica Canafoglia, UNCITRAL
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch Break (60 mins)
  END OF DAY 2 of the CONFERENCE
13.30 – 18.00 Social Outing
 
  • Half day sightseeing tour of Doha
  • Desert Safari
Wednesday, November 6 (Day 3)
Highlights of the Day: A full day of the conference dedicated to Beneficial Ownership and related topics. Overseen by CRF’s Global Beneficial Ownership Working Group.
Theme of the Day: Beneficial Ownership - Empowering Beneficial Ownership Globally
08.40 – 09.00 Networking (20 mins)
09.00 – 09.10 Recap of the previous day (10 mins)
  - Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary
09.10 – 09.30 Opening of the Working Group (20 mins)
 

Speech by Working Group Chair

Plans for the future

  • Dr Geraldine Spiteri Lucas, Malta Business Registry – Working Group Chair (online)
  • Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary
09.30 – 10.30 Conference Session 10 (Panel Discussion - 60 mins)
 

Empowering Beneficial Ownership Globally

Moderator: Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary

Speakers:

  • Stephen Abbott Pugh, Open Ownership
  • Karla Aman, National Council of Registrars of Commercial Courts, France
10.30 – 10.50 Coffee break (20 mins)
10.50 – 12.00 Conference Session 11 (70 mins)
 

AML Legal framework across the globe

Moderator: Andrew Schembri, Malta Business Registry

Speakers:

  • Gerard Prast Clavero, Council of Europe, Moneyval
  • Ulf Krause, Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH, Germany
  • Adel Chouari, Tunisian Business Registry
  • Jean Paul Cassar, Malta Business Registry
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break (50 mins)
13.00 – 14.20 Conference Session 12 (80 mins)
 

Global beneficial ownership insights

Moderator: Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM)

Speakers:

  • Chia-Tern Huey Min, ACRA, Singapore
  • Khairani Yusof, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM)
  • Claude Haylock, Belize Companies & Corporate Affairs Registry
14.20 – 14.40 Coffee break (20 mins)
14.40 – 16.10 Conference Session 13 (90 mins)
 

Navigating International Regulatory Frameworks: Perspectives and Experiences in Collaboration with FATF, MONEYVAL, and Beyond

Moderator: Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary

Speakers:

  • Dr. Geraldine Spiteri Lucas, Malta Business Registry
  • Alexandre Taymans, EU AML/CFT Global Facility (online)
  • Stephen Webster, Department for Business and Trade, UK
  • Chia-Tern Huey Min, ACRA, Singapore
  • Richard Chalmers, AML Consultant, UK
16.10 – 16.30 Conclusion of the Day’s Sessions (20 mins)
 
  • Recap of the day
  • Future plans

Speaker: Hilda Chang, CRF Assistant Secretary
END OF DAY 3 CONFERENCE
19.30 – 22.30 Finale Dinner at MIA Atrium (https://inq-catering.com/en/spaces/mia-atrium)
Thursday, November 7 (Day 4)
Highlights of the Day: Conference Sessions, Updates from other organisations, Closing of the Conference and CRF AGM 2024
Theme of the Day: Global Cooperation among Registries
09:00 – 09:30 Networking (30 mins)
09:30 – 09:40 Recap of the previous day (10 mins)
  Martin Fidler Jones, CRF General Secretary
09:40 – 10:00 Conference Session 14 (20 mins)
 

Business Registry Insights - trends in penalties across the globe.

Speakers:

  • Angela Doneva, North Macedonia
  • Christoph Labenski, Germany
10:00 – 10:20 Conference Session 15 (20 mins)
 

Dissolution of Companies without liquidation – Challenges.

Speakers:

  • Sapiah Ambo, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM)
  • Yves Gonner, Luxembourg Business Registers
10:20 – 10:40 Coffee Break (20 mins)
10:40 – 11:20 Conference Session 16 (40 mins)
 

Corporate Redomiciliation – Challenges

Moderator: Tuifa’asisina Sieni Tualega-Voorwinden, Samoa International Finance Authority (SIFA)

Speakers:

  • Abdul Rasheed Purayil, Qatar Financial Centre
  • Antonina Buts, Astana Financial Services Authority, Kazakhstan
11:20 – 11:40 Conference Session 17 (20 mins)
 

Registry Update – eAdjudication Module

Presenter: Vivek Meena, Deputy Director in Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India
11:40 – 12:10 Conference Session 18 (30 mins)
 

Presentations by:

  • European Business Registry Association (EBRA)
  • International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA)
  • L'Alliance francophone des registres du commerce (AFREC)

Speakers:

  • Ana de Valle, Board Member, EBRA
  • Thomas Connolly, President, IACA
  • Thomas Denfer, President, AFREC
12:10 – 13:10 Conference Conclusion (60 mins)
 
  • Concluding remarks and next year’s host announcement by CRF President
  • Invitation address by 2025 host jurisdiction
  • Vote of thanks and concluding remarks by Conference Director
13:10 – 14:10 Lunch (60 mins)
Conference Ends
14:10 – 14:50 2024 CRF Annual General Meeting (40 mins)
 

Local time: 0600 Washington DC, 1900 Hong Kong, 0000 Wellington

CRF Annual General Meeting

Thursday, November 7 (Day 4) - AGM
14:30 – 15:10 2024 CRF Annual General Meeting (40 mins)