A Corporate Secretary is a key professional responsible for overseeing corporate governance and regulatory compliance for a corporation or board of directors. These professionals ensure that a company follows best practices, its governing structure or framework, and all corporate and statutory regulations.
They work closely with c-suite executives to establish a comprehensive agenda that stretches over a full business year. They also collaborate with the executive team to identify discussion items for board and committee meetings.
The primary duties of a Here Corporate Secretary include coordinating board and committee meetings, drafting minutes and maintaining important corporate records. They also manage annual shareholders’ meetings and develop meeting schedules up to two years in advance, ensuring that adequate time is allotted for these events.
In addition to preparing for and conducting board and committee meetings, corporate secretaries coordinate the logistics of transportation, lodging, venue sites, food, etc. Depending on the company’s meeting notice requirements and schedules, they must know how to arrange an appropriate number of meetings and ensure that all Directors can attend these events.
These responsibilities require superior organization skills and high adaptability to change. A corporate secretary also needs excellent negotiation skills to negotiate and facilitate important decisions and actions between the corporation’s board of directors and senior management, and with its stakeholders, including shareholders.
They also need strong communication skills and the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of people, including both internal and external customers. They are also tasked with managing legal and regulatory matters, such as complying with corporate laws and regulations, keeping up to date on mandated disclosures, and coordinating with auditors and regulators.
While they are primarily responsible for administrative operations, these professionals often perform advisory duties as well, which includes providing orientation, education and training to new directors, facilitating board evaluations and assisting with succession planning.
The importance of the role and its responsibilities has grown as the focus on corporate governance has expanded, especially in emerging markets where the need for quality support is particularly acute. This is why IFC has partnered with the Corporate Secretaries International Association to provide practical training materials and guidance for this career.
IFC’s Corporate Secretaries Toolkit, available only internally, provides trainers with materials and instructions for conducting training in this field. The toolkit is based on IFC’s publication on Board Leadership Training Resources and covers all aspects of the role of a Corporate Secretary, with additional material focused on the Middle East and North Africa region.
A corporate secretary’s responsibilities are similar whether he or she works for a private or public company, so it is essential that they have the right tools to put their best foot forward and meet the demanding requirements of this job. This means having secure, easy-to-use board management software systems and other digital solutions.
Using these tools can help a corporate secretary keep up to date on current trends in governance, improve collaboration with c-suite and board members, and promote the implementation of best practices and policies within the company. This will result in a more efficient operation for the corporation and ensure the company is compliant with all applicable laws, regulations, standards and codes.