C1Part 12Company secretaries
Public companies
I1273Qualifications of secretaries of public companies
1
It is the duty of the directors of a public company to take all reasonable steps to secure that the secretary (or each joint secretary) of the company—
a
is a person who appears to them to have the requisite knowledge and experience to discharge the functions of secretary of the company, and
b
has one or more of the following qualifications.
2
The qualifications are—
a
that he has held the office of secretary of a public company for at least three of the five years immediately preceding his appointment as secretary;
b
that he is a member of any of the bodies specified in subsection (3);
c
that he is a barrister, advocate or solicitor called or admitted in any part of the United Kingdom;
d
that he is a person who, by virtue of his holding or having held any other position or his being a member of any other body, appears to the directors to be capable of discharging the functions of secretary of the company.
3
The bodies referred to in subsection (2)(b) are—
a
the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales;
b
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland;
c
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants;
d
the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland;
e
the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators;
f
the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants;
g
the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Pts. 1-39 (except for Pt. 7 and ss. 662-669), 45-47 extended (12.5.2011) by The Companies Act 2006 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1265), art. 5(1), Sch. 1 para. 2