AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROLE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION AS A REGULATORY BODY UNDER NIGERIAN COMPANY LAW

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction

The Corporate Affairs Commission hereinafter referred to as “the Commission” or CAC for short, is one of the major regulatory bodies of companies in Nigeria. The body is a creation that came into being by virtue of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (hereinafter referred to as CAMA) Cap 50, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, now Cap C20 of the Laws of the Federation, 2004. Principally, the Commission is one of the innovations of CAMA that gives the Commission the responsibility of incorporation of companies, registration of Business Names, Incorporation of Trustee of certain committees, bodies, associations and other regulations. CAMA also introduced Corporate audit Committee, insider trading, codified the duties of directors, the fundamental principles emanated in the rules of Fossal Foss V Harbottle, the rule in Royal British Bank V Turguard.

Before the advent of CAC, the Companies Act of 1968 was the Act that regulated the activities of companies in Nigeria. The present CAMA was borne out of draft documents prepared by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission in an effort to reform and improve on the Companies Act of 1968, which could no longer address the various challenges associated with the regulation and supervision of Companies in Nigeria.