The Georgian Machinery of Corporate Transparency
Corporate transparency in Georgia is a single system: the publicity of the public registry, the presumption of the reliability of its data, the requirements for business letters and the website, mandatory reporting and audit with an audit committee, the preparation of the annual report, the publication of voting results and the shareholder's right to information — all of this is established by the current Law on Entrepreneurs. At the same time, foreign models of beneficial-ownership registries and transparency acts of other states are non-Georgian law and cannot carry this page. The page is carried by the Georgian machinery of corporate transparency — from registry to shareholder.
Publicity of the Registry and the Presumption of Data
Data registered in the registry are public: any person has the right to examine them and receive an extract from the registering body. The extract is built on the data of the unified electronic portal and reflects the data in force at the moment of its preparation; electronic copies of documents submitted during registration are available on the portal free of charge. To be published are the data registered in the registry and every change made to them, and the amount of a joint-stock company's placed capital becomes public at least once a year. A presumption of reliability and completeness applies to the data: in relations with third persons the entrepreneur may rely on the registry data only after their publication; within relations arising within 15 days of registration and publication, reliance is admissible unless the third person proves it neither knew nor could have known.
Business Letterhead and Website
Transparency reaches down to everyday documents: every business letter of a limited partnership, a limited liability company and a joint-stock company must indicate the firm name, legal address and identification number. Where capital is indicated, the data must refer to the placed capital and its paid-up part. A company in liquidation indicates the corresponding addition next to its name; a person in insolvency proceedings indicates the specific regime as well. All data indicated on the business letter must also be placed on the company's website; the requirement is the same for paper and electronic form. Failure to perform this obligation entails administrative liability of the person authorized to represent.