The Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) international association of corporate registries. Membership is open to government agencies and their officials responsible for the administration of corporate registers (for example, a register of companies).
The association aims to provide members with the opportunity to review the latest developments in corporate business registers internationally and to exchange experiences and information on the current and future operation of corporate business registration systems. The focus of the initial meetings was in the Asia-Pacific region.
The forum first met in Auckland in 2003, hosted by the New Zealand Companies Office. This 2003 meeting provided an opportunity for corporate registries from thirteen jurisdictions to come together. The initial name given to this group was the Asia-Pacific Corporate Registries Forum.
A second meeting was hosted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and held in Melbourne, Australia, in March 2005. The members present at that meeting voted to adopt the name Corporate Registers Forum.
By joining the Corporate Registers Forum, you gain access to an international network of registry professionals. Our Annual Conference is combined with the Annual General Meeting and provides delegates with the opportunity to review the latest developments in corporate business registers internationally and exchange experiences and information on the current and future operation of corporate business registration systems. Through the members section of the Corporate Registers Forum website, you can participate in online discussions, learn more about other Forum members, and interact online with other corporate registry managers.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please visit the About CRF section of our CRF website at corporateregistersforum.org
Louise Smyth joined Companies House in September 2017 as Chief Executive and Registrar for England and Wales. Louise has served as President of the Corporate Registers Forum since 2021.
Before joining Companies House Louise held a number of senior positions at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), including Director of IT, Director of People, Places & Services.
Louise went on to become Chief Operating Officer in 2014, responsible for Corporate Services: IT, People, Places and Services and Finance.
In January 2025, Louise was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King’s New Year honours, in recognition of her services to public life and the economy.
Martin Fidler Jones joined Companies House in 2021, responsible for international affairs, following a decade in charity sector public affairs, policy and communications. He is currently Head of International and has been CRF Secretary since 2021.
A fluent French speaker, Martin is currently learning Arabic and has also worked at the heart of Parliaments and their governments in Wales, the UK and the EU.
He holds an Honours degree in Economics and a Masters in International Relations, with a specialism in climate change politics.
Bolen Ng has been in the New Zealand public service where he has had a varied career over 27 years. He has a strong operational background with a people centric focus and has built cohesive operational teams and remotely managed multiple operational sites across geographical locations internationally, including (Hong Kong, Bangkok, Vietnam, the Middle East and Shanghai). Within New Zealand he has led large complex Immigration New Zealand operations. He has built collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Bolen joined the New Zealand Business Registries, NZ Companies Office, Ministry Of Business Innovation and Employment, in 2021, as the National Manager, and Assistant Registrar and is keen to work with like minded registry counterparts to share challenges and make improvements to our registry systems for our customers whilst maintaining our regulatory role and function.
Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz has been appointed as CEO of the Companies Commission of Malaysia effective May 1, 2020. Prior to this appointment, she was the Deputy CEO (DCEO) of Regulatory & Enforcement and thereafter, DCEO of Corporate Services between the period of 2016 to 2020. She started her career in 1992 as an Advocate and Solicitor and from there on served as a Law Lecturer at the Accounting Department, Faculty of Business and Management, National University of Malaysia (UKM). She joined SSM as General Manager of the Corporate Policy, Planning and Development Department in 2003 and oversaw the passing of significant pieces of legislations under the purview of SSM, among others, the Companies Act 2016, Interest Schemes Act 2016, Limited Liability Partnership Act 2012 and Companies (Amendment) Act 2007. She is currently a Board Member of Audit Oversight Board, Board Member of Financial Reporting Foundation, Member of the Approval and Implementation Committee of Iskandar Regional Development Authority, Board Member of the Labuan Financial Services Authority and was elected as the Executive Committee of the Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) at the 2022 CRF Forum
Abdul Rasheed KP works as Director, Companies Registration Office, Qatar Financial Centre, Doha, Qatar. Mr. Rasheed is a former officer of the central civil service in India, and has officiated as Assistant Registrar of Companies and as Assistant Official Liquidator in India.
A lawyer by profession, Mr. Rasheed has worked with leading law firms in India and Qatar, prior to joining the QFC. His career also includes stints as a prosecutor in India’s federal investigation agency – the Central Bureau of Investigation; and in a senior position in the Indian banking arm of a global financial major.
He has published articles and spoken at international conferences on law, corporate governance and white-collar crimes; and some of his talks have been broadcasted. His personal interest includes music, literature, and travel.
Geraldine Spiteri Lucas is a lawyer by profession who acquired a Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta and a warrant to practice in Maltese Courts. She also read a Masters Degree in European Studies and Comparative Law.
Geraldine was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Business Registry and Registrar in 2021. Previously to her appointment, she used to head the Legal and Enforcement Unit of the said entity and oversaw its overall function. She also worked for several years in the private sector with a leading Maltese law firm. She is also a member of the board of examiners for the department of Commercial Law of the University of Malta.
Adv. Monaheng is the Director of One-Stop Business Facilitation Centre [OBFC] and Registrar of Companies in Lesotho. He graduated with a Masters Degree in Intellectual Property with Africa University in Zimbabwe.
On the helm of OBFC, he led the reforms in starting and doing business in Lesotho.
These saw improvement of Lesotho as investment destination on the then World Bank Doing Business Rankings Key amongst these reforms was a journey of digitization of the business registry. He has been coopted in the steering committee that is building a National Single Window for Lesotho.
He is currently steering the process to establish Beneficial Ownership registry and corporate insolvency regime.
La Donna John serves as the Director of Legal and Enforcement at the Financial Services Commission of Belize since September 2020 demonstrating expertise in navigating complex legal landscapes and ensuring regulatory compliance within the financial sector. La Donna is also an inception member of the Project Steering Committee of the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry.
She has also served as a Magistrate for the Government of Belize and is a practising Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts, an Honours degree in Law and is pursuing an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law.
Liesl McKay is Senior Executive Leader, Registry Operations, Australian Securities & Investment Commission, Australia.
Liesl leads ASIC’s Registry function, overseeing the transition of the ASIC companies and business registers and functions from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) back to ASIC. Prior to this, Liesl held roles as ASIC’s Senior Executive, Modernising Business Registers Program, Senior Executive Leader, Registry and Senior Executive, Registry Transformation, leading major law and technology reform programs to ASIC’s Registry business.
Liesl has more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in regulation, service delivery, program delivery and business transformation.
She holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University, a Graduate Diploma in Organisational Behaviour from Swinburne Institute of Technology and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mrs Chia-Tern Huey Min has been the Chief Executive of Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) since 22 April 2024.
ACRA is the national regulator of business registration, financial reporting, public accountants, and corporate service providers in Singapore, and is responsible for developing the accountancy sector and setting the accounting standards for companies, charities, co- operative societies, and societies.
As Chief Executive of ACRA, Mrs Chia-Tern performs the statutory functions of the Registrar of Companies, Businesses, Public Accountants, Limited Liability Partnerships, Limited Partnerships and Variable Capital Companies.
Mrs Chia-Tern has 36 years of rich experience in tax administration, tax policy, operations, and regulations, providing exemplary leadership in various key tax functions, both locally and internationally. Prior to joining ACRA, Mrs Chia-Tern was the Deputy Commissioner (International, Investigation & Indirect Taxes) at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and represented Singapore at key international tax fora.
Mrs Chia-Tern graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Estate Management) (1 st Class Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore on a Public Service Commission Local Merit Scholarship and holds a Master in Land Economy degree from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She was conferred the Public Service Administration Medal (Gold) in 2022.
Ms Majestic Yeung joined the Government of the Special Administrative Region as Solicitor in April 2007. She was promoted to Senior Solicitor in August 2011, to
Assistant Principal Solicitor in December 2018 and to Deputy Principal Solicitor in September 2024. Before assuming the post of the Registrar of Companies in April 2025, Ms Yeung served in various departments of the Government namely the Land Registry, the Lands Department and the Companies Registry.
Mrs. Sieni Voorwinden is the CEO of the Samoa International Finance Authority. In this role she is the Registrar and Regulator of all international entities registered and licensed in and within Samoa. She has over 15 years’ experience in international financial services.
She has been instrumental in the development of Samoa’s International Finance Sector, spearheading the establishment of the Samoa International Business Finance Centre Ltd, which is the commercial and marketing arm of the Authority. Sieni is a leading member of National Working Groups addressing various issues relating to the International Finance Sector and is the co-lead negotiator on behalf of Samoa in Samoa’s efforts to delist from the EU Blacklist. She is the lead for Samoan delegations to the OECD Global Forum Peer Review Group on Exchange of Information for Tax transparency as well as other International Standard Setting bodies such as the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors, Asia Pacific Group on AML/CFT. Sieni has a wealth of experience in compliance, legal and business development initiatives, and is often called upon by international
organizations to share insights on these key issues. She is a strong advocate for the Pacific Region in finding solutions for the decline in Correspondent Banking Relationships in the Pacific.
Sieni is a lawyer by profession and holds a Conjoint Degree – Bachelor of Arts and Law from University of Auckland, NZ. She is in her second term as the SIFA Chief Executive Office. Prior to her appointment as SIFA CEO in 2020, she was employed as the Chief Operations Manager – of The Cause Collective New Zealand, a Pacific social change agency based in Auckland New Zealand.
She holds the traditional chiefly titles of Tuifaasisina from her mother’s family in Falelatai and the title Toeolesulusulu from her father’s family in Satupuala, both villages on the South West Coast of Upolu in Apia Samoa. She is a proud mother of 4 and considers this to be her most challenging but most fulfilling role.