Corporate entities across Colombia must fulfill a number of reporting obligations throughout the year.

We provide you with a helpful outline of general corporate obligations for 2017.

Corporate Matters

Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting or Ordinary Partners' Meeting shall be held within the first three months of the current year with the purpose of approving the year-end financial statements concluding December 31, 2016, to appoint the dignitaries, statutory auditor and approve the distribution of profits, if any.

Conglomerate Special Report

Managers of a controlled company within a conglomerate shall submit a special report to the Shareholders' General Meeting / Partners' General Meeting that details the intensity of the controlled company's economic relationship between the parent company and its subsidiaries (Article 29 Law 222 of 1995).

Superintendence of Companies

Companies shall be subject to surveillance by the Superintendence of Companies when, as of December 31, 2016 or at the closing of the subsequent financial years, they report:

  • total assets, including inflation adjustments, exceed the equivalent of 30.000 monthly legal minimum wages (COP $22.131.510.000, approximately US$7.624.168); and
  • total income, including integral inflation adjustments, exceed the value of 30.000 monthly legal minimum wages (COP $22.131.510.000, approximately US$7.624.168).

Surveillance shall be initiated on the first business day of April in the year following the respective accounting closing.

Corporations subject to the inspection, surveillance and control of the Superintendence of Companies shall submit information related to its financial statements between January 1 and December 31, 2016 electronically through the online business webpage of the Superintendence. As established in the Superintendence's External Circular No. 201- 000010 of November 24, 2016, deadlines start on April 17, 2017 and take into account the last two digits of the NIT, while excluding the verification number (DV). These deadlines are not subject to extensions.

Statutory Auditor

Commercial corporations are required to have a statutory auditor when gross assets as of December 31 of the preceding year are equal to or exceed the equivalent of 5.000 monthly legal minimum wages (COP$3.688.585.000, approximately US$1.270.695) and/or when gross income during the preceding year are equal to or exceed the equivalent of 3.000 monthly legal minimum wages (COP$2.213.151.000, approximately US$762.417).

Chamber of Commerce

A corporation's mercantile registration shall be renewed at the Chamber of Commerce before March 31, 2016. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in fines of up to 17 minimum monthly wages (COP$12.541.189 approximately US$4.320).

Financial statements, along with their notes and corresponding opinion, shall be submitted to the Chamber of Commerce, within one month following their approval. If the corporation submits the financial statements before the Superintendence of Companies, it shall not submit them to the Chamber of Commerce.

Foreign Investment Update

Corporations with capital generated from direct foreign investors that do not have the obligation to submit their financial statements before the Superintendence of Corporations, shall electronically submit the General Regime Enterprises and Branches Equity Conciliation (Form No. 15) to the Central Bank no later than June 20, 2017. This term is not extendable. Failure to submit the form within the established term may result in fines by the Superintendence of Companies.

Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world's largest law firm, Dentons' global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.