Corporate transparency has become one of the defining themes of business regulation over the past decade. As governments and financial institutions place greater emphasis on verifying company information, keeping corporate records accurate and up to date has become an increasingly important part of running a business.
What does a corporate secretary do for company maintenance?
Company secretarial services are often associated with paperwork, but the role is much broader. They help companies meet their legal obligations by keeping company records current and ensuring changes are properly reflected in the company’s legal records.
The core of what corporate secretarial services supports with includes amendments and annual renewals for trade licenses, lease agreements, commercial spaces and documents. It also typically includes the renewals of company labour and immigration systems such as renewing the company establishment card, Labour Cards and eChannel system for labour quotas.
The company’s statutory records
Every company has a legal identity that exists separately from the people who own or manage it. Maintaining that legal identity means keeping accurate records of the company’s structure and documenting important decisions as the business develops. There are also document preparations required for year-end formalities that must be considered.
This typically includes key responsibilities for:
- Maintaining statutory registers – shareholder/ partner register, beneficiary register and UBO submissions.
- Preparing board and shareholder resolutions.
- Recording of board meeting and committee meeting minutes and annual general meeting minutes.
- Updating constitutional documents.
- Completing annual or periodic statutory filings.
- Arranging for filing of company annual accounts.
- Notifying the relevant authorities when directors, shareholders or ownership change.
For companies established in the UAE, these records form part of the company’s continuing legal obligations. Businesses incorporated on the mainland, in ADGM, DIFC or another free zone are expected to keep their corporate information up to date and notify the relevant authority where changes require it.
As the business develops
A business rarely looks exactly the same several years after incorporation as it did on the day it was established. New investment may change the ownership structure. Additional companies may be added to the group. Changes within the business need to be reflected in the company’s legal records as they happen.
The company administration work often continues after the commercial decision has been made. Registers have to be updated. Corporate documents need to reflect the change. Depending on where the company is incorporated in the UAE, the relevant authority may also need to be notified within the required timeframe.
Supporting everyday business activities in-house
Banks frequently ask to see corporate documents before opening facilities or reviewing existing arrangements. Investors may request them during due diligence. Regulators can ask for the same information when verifying a company’s legal position. When records have been maintained properly, those requests are usually dealt with quickly.
Corporate records also provide a reliable history of the company’s decisions. Looking back at a board resolution approved several years earlier is often far easier than trying to reconstruct why a decision was made after the event.
Managing obligations across jurisdictions
Many businesses established in the UAE also own companies overseas or form part of wider international groups. A change made to one company may affect another, particularly where ownership or management is shared across several entities.
Keeping those records consistent requires ongoing attention because each jurisdiction has its own filing timetable and reporting requirements. Information recorded for a UAE company may also need to be reflected elsewhere so that the group’s records remain consistent when reviewed by banks, investors or overseas authorities.
Sovereign: An outsourced company for corporate secretarial services
With over thirty-five years of experience supporting international businesses, Sovereign is a corporate secretarial service provider across a wide range of jurisdictions to support compliance requirements and administrative requirements of the business. We apply best practice to ensure the company complies with filings, registers and maintaining statutory documentation as per the
Our corporate governance professionals help clients maintain statutory records and deal with the documentation that follows corporate change. We also assist with ongoing filing obligations in the UAE and support businesses whose corporate structures extend across more than one jurisdiction.
To find out more about our outsourced company secretarial services, please contact your local Sovereign office.
