Many people think that once their new company is registered with Companies House they are legally compliant. We speak to a lot of people who are very surprised to find out that they need extra documentation. When we tell them that not having this documentation is a criminal offence which could land them with a criminal record and a potential £5,000 fine some are quite shocked.
Part of the reason why people don’t know about their legal obligations regarding company paperwork is because the requirements changed in 2006 with the Companies Act. This has lead to some confusion over exactly what companies do and don’t need to do to meet their statutory requirements.
It is now understood that the legal position is as follows. Registering as a limited company does not mean that you automatically have all the paperwork you need. Part of being a registered company is that you have to keep Companies House up to date on your directors and shareholders, and to file annual accounts and returns. Together these corporate compliance documents are known as a company’s ‘statutory registers’.
There are seven main documents that all new Private Companies Limited by Shares are going to need. These are:
Section 113 – Register of Members (Shareholders)
Section 162 – Register of Directors
Section 275 – Register of Secretaries
Section 869 – Register of Mortgages and Charges
Section 743 – Register of Debentures
Section 769 – Issue Share Certificates
Section 248 – Minutes of Directors’ and General Meetings
All registered companies need to have these documents and keep them up to date. Failure to keep these documents up to date is a criminal offence and can result in the company officers being prosecuted with fines ranging from £200 to £5,000 depending on which bits are missing.
We have a Corporate Compliance Document Pack which contains all of the documents you will need so you can ensure you are legally compliant and not open to any fines.