Company secretary and their responsibilities

We often meet people who confuse company secretary function with casual typing and answering the phone job. So who a company secretary is?

Who is a company secretary?

A company secretary, known as a corporate secretary in the United States, is a senior role in a private or public organisation, responsible for company's compliance, governance and liaison with regulatory bodies, such as Companies House. A company secretary usually acts as a chief administrative officer enabling the company directors to concentrate on core company functions and running the business.

Public companies must by law have a company secretary.

The job of company secretary is often outsourced to external specialists, such as accountants or company secretarial service providers.

Company secretary's responsibilities

Company secretarial responsibilities usually include the following:

· maintaining the statutory registers
· transferring formalities on a change of ownership
· completion of the annual return
· reminders for company statutory accounts preparation
· filing the documentation required at Companies House on time
· management of board meetings and annual general meetings, preparation and distribution of documents, notices, resolutions and minutes
· organising share placings
· ensuring Directors’ statutory duties are fulfilled.