Module 4 · Chapter 10

The Company Secretary's File

Every board decision ends up in a file. This chapter shows what the company secretary's file holds, which deadlines it runs to, and how each page can prove that the board decided properly.

≈ 11 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • What the file holds, and who will read it later
  • The registers and filing deadlines you keep
  • How the Board Pack and the minutes turn decisions into proof

10.1The company secretary's file in one paragraph

The company secretary, Lucy Penhaligon, keeps the company's records, and you keep them with her. The charter gives her four: the minutes, the Conflicts Register, the Decision Log and the statutory registers, the records the Companies Act 2006 makes every company keep (§1.5). She also sends every notice and Board Pack, and she certifies extracts of the minutes, signing each as a true copy. Every page will one day be read by someone who was not in the room.

Key point

Could a stranger tell from this page alone that the board decided, that it was entitled to, and that it took care? If so, the page proves what happened. If not, it only records it.

Also in this chapter

  1. Who reads the file, and what they ask
  2. Telling Companies House who the directors are
  3. The register of persons with significant control
  4. The calendar of deadlines
  5. The Board Pack, five business days ahead
  6. The minutes, and the certified extract
  7. The Conflicts Register and the Decision Log
  8. Your job

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