Advisory to company secretaries regarding LLP

The CS is an imperative wheel for a smooth movement of the company. However, not many companies adhere to certain guidelines when it comes to having a position for CS. Keeping this in mind, ICSI (The Institute of Company Secretaries of India), the national body overseeing the training and other paraphernalia related to a CS, has come up with an advisory for all the companies. The advisory is binding on LLPs as well. Here is what the advisory suggests.

The ICSI clearly mandates that if any company is using the designation of a CS, it is required to have a prior NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the ICSI.

The ICSI was stern when it observed that the many companies directly approach the ROCs (Registrar of Companies) and get the names of their LLPs approved, without the knowledge of the ICSI. However, the standard procedure requires them to get an NOC from the ICSI. The reason stated by the companies for ignoring the ICSI from the entire process is that the names of the LLPs do not contain the word Company Secretary hence it does not really need to approach the chartered accountant body. However, the ICSI has now made it clear that even in such cases where a newly-floated LLP is planning on providing secretarial or attestation services, the first step is to get NOC from the ICSI and then approach the ROC for the name registration.

Also the ICSI made it clear that all the LLPs which are covered under the new advisory will need to update information like name of the company, registration date, contact details etc,. It also stated that the LLPs will need to provide the details of the partners with membership no, LLP incorporation certificate which is provided by the ROC. Besides all these, they are also required to file a copy of form 2 which was submitted to the ROC, combined with a copy of LLP deed and form 25 presented at the ROC.

Moving on further, the LLPs now are mandated to inform the ICSI within 30 days, in case there is a change in the partnership patter of the company. But even after all these strict guidelines in place, if a company secretary decides to form a LLP for non-secretarial purposes, he/she is exempted from obtaining NOC from the ICSI.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.