A nominee secretary is a person or company who consents to be named as the secretary of a company. This is usually in exchange for a fee.
This type of stand-in secretariy were (certainly prior to 6th April 2008) by far the most common nominee service used by persons when registering a company.
Often it was the case that a person who is setting up the company and who will become the sole director once the business is incorporated, can not find or does not wish to find another person who is willing to take on the position of company secretary.
It might be the case that the person forming the company wishes their involvement in the venture to remain a private, or that a friend or partner is unsure about their potential exposure and liability which may result from their participation in the role as company secretary.
Nominee Secretary and Opening Company Bank Accounts
Having a nominee secretary does not usually cause the same problems of opening a bank account as can be the case when using the equivalent director. The majority of banks seem to view the company secretarial role as one not having a significant involvement in the day to day running of the company and therefore are more likely to accept nominees for this position.
The nominee secretary will however be required to sign the bank application forms just as "ordinary" company secretaries are required to do.
Similarly to other nominee services (director and shareholder / subscriber), most company formation agents do offer the secretarial service as an addition to a set-up package. Their initial fee is usually renewable annually, but the purchaser is free to appoint another person or company as secretary at any time in the interim.
