Introduction
As Bahrain puts great strides to diversify and develop its non-oil economy, the government is actively pursuing various amendments to certain provisions of the Bahrain Commercial Companies Law (BCCL) as part of the country’s ongoing efforts to develop its compliance and regulatory frameworks in line with international best practices.
In the light of recent economic developments and changing business landscape in the world, the stakeholders of companies are getting overly concerned with the conduct of affairs of their companies and looking for increased control and monitoring of regulatory compliance. As Bahrain is laying out more regulatory requirements at the feet of company secretaries, their functions are becoming extremely vital for the long-term growth and sustainability of business organisations.
With the increased focus on corporate governance by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) Bahrain, the role of the company secretary has been expanded to include its function as the custodian of the company’s compliance with legislative requirements for avoiding legal procedures.
As soon as a new company formation in Bahrain is initiated, the government recommends the implementation of professional company secretary services in advance for streamlining bookkeeping and accounting processes for appropriate record-keeping and timely compliance of regulatory protocols.
What is the role of a company secretary?
In reality, the role of the company secretaries has gone much beyond the basic statutory requirements and the added responsibility of improving corporate governance through system and process development has now fallen on their lap. The chairperson and the board directors are also constantly looking up to them for skills, expertise and technology in this area. Periodic reviews of corporate governance policies with recommendations for improvements is also their responsibility.
Another critical role that the company secretary has is communicating with external stakeholders. They are also the first point of contact for investor queries.
Why outsourcing of company secretarial services is beneficial for companies?
Collaborating with professional experts facilitates achieving the ultimate organisational objective of business sustenance and growth with continued regulatory compliance on all business fronts. Following are the benefits of outsourcing company secretary services in Bahrain.
Cost Advantage
Outsourcing Company secretary services, on the other hand, is a one-time cost and saves time and other resources of setting up an in-house facility. Professional service charges of company secretary service providers are much less than the employment and maintenance cost of the internal Corporate Secretarial Team and translate to considerable cost savings.