Register Of Company Secretaries (Corporate) (internal use only)
A private company is not required to have a company secretary (section 270 Companies Act 2006), however many companies continue to have a company secretary for administrative tasks and to take on some of the directors’ responsibilities.
The company secretary can be a director but cannot be:
- the company’s auditor
- an ‘undischarged bankrupt’ - unless they have permission from the court
Even if a company has a company secretary, the directors are legally responsible for the company.
If a private company has a company secretary, it may be an individual or a corporate secretary or firm. Some companies may choose to appoint an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) as their company secretary. ACSPs are intermediaries such as accountants, legal advisers and company formation agents. They must be registered with a supervisory body for anti-money laundering purposes. ACSPs will also be able to act as third-party agents registered with Companies House. They may therefore provide identity verification services and file documents with Companies House on behalf of other entities. More information is available here.
Note that under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA), the requirement for companies to maintain statutory registers (other than the register of members) is abolished. This takes effect as of 18th November 2025. This includes the register of secretaries. The register at Companies House will become the sole, verified source of this information. The ECCTA creates stringent requirements for keeping Companies House updated on all changes. These need to be notified within 14 days of any appointment, resignation or change in a secretary's details occurring.
For companies wishing to maintain their own internal registers, this template may be used. This template has been updated to reflect that this is now purely an internal record.
This register is in open format. The requisite details should be inserted in the highlighted fields or the wording adjusted to suit your purposes.
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Register Of Company Secretaries (Corporate) (internal use only) is part of Employment. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Employment for 1 year.