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What are CoSec services and why are they important for companies?
CoSec, short for ‘company secretarial', refers to essential company secretarial services that help businesses comply with statutory administrative obligations, such as filings at Companies House and maintaining accurate statutory registers. Staying compliant ensures your business avoids penalties.
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How can company secretarial services help with compliance?
While you technically don’t need professional company secretarial services, managing compliance can be challenging. Companies House designed its filing system for DIY use, but understanding statutory obligations and navigating complex forms can lead to costly errors. Last year alone, Companies House collected over £90 million in late filing penalties. Professional CoSec services simplify compliance, saving you time, money, and worry.
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Why is ProSec the best choice for company secretarial services?
With over 20 years of experience in corporate law, ProSec ensures your filings are up-to-date, reducing your risk of penalties and saving you time. Our flat-fee structure is designed to be affordable—offering better value than most law firms.
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What is a confirmation statement and why is it important?
A confirmation statement (CS01) is a mandatory annual filing that confirms your company’s shareholders, issued share capital, directors, and Persons with Significant Control (PSC). Failure to file on time can result in fines or even company dissolution. ProSec’s CoSec Services package includes full responsibility for filing your CS01, ensuring compliance and peace of mind.
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What is a Person with Significant Control (PSC) in a company?
A Person with Significant Control (PSC) is someone who:
- holds 25% or more of the shares or voting rights;
- has the right to appoint or remove directors; and/or
- exerts significant influence over the company.
ProSec can help you identify PSCs and ensure compliance with notification requirements at Companies House.
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What are annual accounts and how do you file them?
Annual accounts summarise your company’s financial performance and must be filed with Companies House yearly, even for non-trading or dormant companies. Late filing can result in substantial penalties. ProSec offers email reminders and filing services to ensure your accounts are submitted on time, avoiding fines and stress.
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What are the mandatory filings at Companies House?
Key filings include:
- Appointment or resignation of directors.
- Issuing shares or changing company articles.
- Special resolutions passed by shareholders.
- Company name changes.
If you’re unsure about required filings, ProSec can handle the process for you, ensuring full compliance.
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What are statutory company registers, and how do you maintain them?
Statutory company registers include essential records such as:
- Register of Members
- Directors' Service Contracts
- Register of Share Transfers
- Register of charges
- Register of Directors
- Register of Directors' Indemnities
- Register of Directors' residential addresses
- Register of Debenture Holders
- Register of Persons with Significant Control
- Board minutes and shareholder meetings
- Register of Secretaries
- Resolutions
By law, these must be kept up-to-date and available for inspection at your registered office. ProSec’s CoSec Services package includes digital management of all registers, saving you time and ensuring compliance.
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What’s included in ProSec’s annual CoSec Services fee?
Our flat-fee package covers your annual confirmation statement, up to 2 hours of additional work and the upkeep of company registers. Additional work is charged at a transparent hourly rate, and we’ll always discuss any extra fees with you before proceeding.
Companies House filing fees are charged at cost apart from the fee for electronically filing your annual confirmation statement, which is covered by our annual fee.
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What checks does ProSec perform before providing CoSec services?
To comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, ProSec performs Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on new clients, directors, and PSCs. Our e-verification tool makes the process quick and hassle-free, requiring only a passport and proof of address from the last 3 months.
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What is the new Director Identity Verification Process?
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduces new rules to increase transparency in company ownership. Under these changes, all directors, material ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), and prospective directors must have their identities independently verified by an authorised agent.
This verification process ensures that only legitimate individuals are linked to companies registered at Companies House. Once verified, you will receive a unique identity code. This code will be required for future filings involving the individual, such as the annual Confirmation Statement (CS01).
As a regulated corporate services provider, ProSec will become an Authorised Corporate Service Provider once the new system launches in Spring 2025. We will handle the entire verification process for you, making compliance simple and stress-free.
Read our brochure which explains what is happening and how we can help.
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What else can you do for my company?
We also offer a central London Registered Office address service, a new company Incorporation service and a Register of Overseas Entity service as well as more bespoke services such as digitising your company registers, creating board minutes, shareholder resolutions, articles of association, an iterative cap table, dissolving your company or just running a CoSec MOT to check everything is in order. If you need any of these services, please Contact Us for a quote.