So one of the administrative roles that some (but not Akira Consult Limited Consult 😎 ) Company Secretaries love to hate is documenting, filing, sequencing and maintaining records. But such is life! All jobs usually have that thing that you would rather not do, that seems too simplistic and that takes away the actual shine of the role.

So why as #companysecretary “CS” should you take this task seriously? Apart from the increasing liability that is coming with our roles as Governance Professionals, record keeping is actually what may actually get you the job, that may get you the nice desk and additional office space/resources and a seat at the table as you hold the evidence to important company discussions.

The recent passing of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Act 10 of 2023 “The Act” and which was assented to in September 2023 places additional emphasis on why filing and storing of Company records is deathly important. The Act makes a wide raft of amendments across various laws that establish and regulate legal entities in Kenya.

Through The Act, apart from cementing the qualifications of a CS, it is now a fact of law that emphasizes on the importance of record keeping. The Act has made it mandatory for records to be kept from the registration of a company, a limited liability partnership, a foreign company, and a foreign limited liability partnership throughout their operations and after the striking off of the entity. Broadly, the records of any company has been increased, and should be kept for 7-10yrs (especially for beneficial ownership records which must be kept for 10 yrs) and any records after striking off of an entity should be maintained for 7years.

Starting off with Limited Liability Partnerships #llp , the aforementioned Act states that the llp should maintain from inception all its registration documents, records of its partners and managers, its annual declarations of solvency, documents lodged with the registrar, certificates issued by the registrar, partnership agreements, charge documents and beneficial ownership records.

For Companies, a company secretary, resident director or contact person in cases of private companies or companies limited by guarantee, the record keeping of statutory registers has been widened. Records and registers now include all company registration documents and records of; members, directors, secretaries, articles, contact persons, nominee directors, directors service contracts, directors indemnities, resolutions, share purchase transaction documents of private companies, conflict of interest registers, beneficial owners and financial reports. Read the Act!

So if you are having a slow Q4 as a CS, get filing! Get appropriate physical and electronic resources and sequence these documents appropriately. It is now too risky and expensive to not have a record keeping system. Happy to help!