Choosing a company secretary is easy but choosing the “right” one is not. In Singapore, every company must have a designated secretary within 6 months of establishing.
According to the Company Constitution, the secretary is responsible for ensuring a company’s compliance with Singapore’s company law. In order to do so, they need to be equipped with the necessary skills for corporate secretarial services.
This includes managing files for ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority), maintaining statutory registers, preparing for board meetings and many more. The importance of appointing a competent secretary cannot be overstated especially in today’s business landscape.
At the end of the day, choosing the right one comes down to knowing the exact skills and expertise needed for the job. Here are 6 green flags to look out for when choosing a company secretary. To know more about the roles and responsibilities of a secretary, read our previous article here.
1. Qualifications
First and foremost, you should ensure that your candidates are qualified for the role. This includes having the qualification and certifications to become your legal secretary. The minimum criteria to become a secretary in Singapore is:
–To have a good grasp of laws, legality and financial analytic skills.
–To be knowledgeable and experienced with company regulations and compliance.
–To be familiar with all required company annual filings.
-To be a primary/ordinary resident in Singapore.
These are telltale signs that a candidate possesses the basic qualification to apply as a secretary. Moreover, a candidate that has experience in the field is a big plus, taking us to the next point.
2. Experience
Having experience in a particular field is highly sought after in this day and age. If you’re running a startup, it’s important to find a secretary that has the experience in handling startups. That goes the same for corporations that are already established.
A candidate that knows about the do’s and don’t of regulatory processes is a valuable asset to the company. The business landscape is constantly evolving and the faster your secretary can cope, the better.
Furthermore, it saves you the time of having to run them through the basics of corporate governance.
3. Communication
A company secretary is the first line of contact between shareholders, top executives and other stakeholders. It’s imperative that a secretary possesses excellent communication skills considering the work they will be put up to.
They’ll have to interact with different people on a regular basis and more importantly, they need to be effective in doing so. The room for error is minimal and providing the wrong information can be futile to the company as a whole.
On top of that, they need to be good listeners too. Keep in mind that a candidate with good communication skills is always a surplus to any company.
4. Adaptability
Secretaries are tasked with a bunch of different responsibilities and keeping up is no easy feat. In order to keep up, the ideal candidate should have the adaptability skills to attune to different situations.
This includes attending and organizing meetings, becoming a liaison between shareholders and managing legal documents. This also goes hand in hand with having the proper organizational skills to plan out their schedule.
All in all, secretaries have a lot on their plate and the ability to adapt is greatly needed in order to get things done.
5. Attentive
The ideal secretary should have a keen eye for detail. An underlying task of becoming a secretary is to ensure corporate records, financial statements and other legal documents are free of error.
In retrospect, identifying errors and discrepancies seem like an easy skill but attentiveness is a quality that not everyone possesses. A candidate with an eye for detail can be very valuable and you need a keen eye in order to scout one out too!
6. Confidence
Last but not least, your company secretary should have the confidence to assert themselves when necessary. This includes helping board members and top executives stay on track by giving ideas and advice.
They should be able to stake their claim and provide their points with firmness during meetings and discussion. They must not waver under pressure especially when other board members are disproving their points.
Confidence is key when it comes to dishing out information or giving advice. It’ll also come handy in other secretarial areas such as managing legal documents and dealing with numbers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, choosing the right secretary is essential for your business operation. The secretary has a herculean task of maintaining a company’s legal and regulatory requirements among a bunch of other things.
To ensure you have the best person for the job, be sure to look out for these green flags. If you’re looking for corporate secretarial services, PLCO is a seasoned legal firm that also provides the latter. Click here to find out more!
