Company Secretary Services: Appointment, Role, and Responsibilities
The roles, responsibilities, and appointment of a company secretary largely depend on the type of the type and size of the business. For a small company, the company secretary may only be required to perform administrative roles while for a larger company; the company secretary services may be required to perform a range of tasks including ensuring legal compliance. According to Singapore Company law, every company is required to appoint a company secretary within six months of its registration.
The company secretary is responsible for a range of tasks such as ensuring company compliance with the relevant statutory requirements and regulations. The company secretary is also charged with keeping the board of directors informed of their stipulated legal responsibilities towards the company. The company law has a defined legal framework within which the company directors and secretary should operate.
Appointment
According to section 88 of the Companies Amendment Act, every company in Singapore is required to appoint a company secretary and should ensure that the company secretary has the requisite experience including both academic and professional qualifications. Working with a reputable firm in Singapore for the delivery of Company secretary services can help in ensuring that an individual with the right qualifications and experience is engaged for the work.
The company secretary must be able to meet the following requirements; must be a natural person and a resident of Singapore. The directors of a company when considering the opening of a company should ensure that the ideal candidate has the required level of experience.
Duties
There are specific duties of the company secretary that are vested in the company law. Here are some of the duties that a company secretary;
Maintenance of statutory registers: The firm engaged for delivery of company secretary services should ensure that statutory registers are well maintained. The registers of substantial shareholders, register of members and charges should be well maintained as required by the law.
Preparation of accounts: It’s the duty of a company secretary to ensure that the accounts of the company are well prepared as per the provisions of the law. Once the documents are prepared, the company secretary should be able to file these statements with the registrar of companies.
Filing of statutory forms: The company secretary is also responsible for the filing of returns and forms with the registrar within the specified time. The filing of forms and returns such as the annual returns return of the allotment shares and notice of appointment of a director are all responsibilities of a company secretary. Engaging a reputable firm for such company secretary services should be considered as they have a team of skilled professionals with the needed expertise.
Preparation of company minutes during meetings
It’s the duty of the company secretary to prepare minutes for the meetings which are considered as records to be maintained by the company as per the law. These minutes form a part of the records that a company has. Company secretary services continue to evolve and the responsibilities may change depending on the activities that a company is involved in.
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