Company seal (optional)
| Historically, companies have used company seals to sign deeds and other documents. Typically the company seal would be a simple rubber stamp, purchased from a rubber stamp maker, bearing the company name and the words 'common seal'.
Under modern UK company law, companies are no longer required to have a company seal - section 36A(3) of the Companies Act 1985 (which was introduced by way of an amendment to the Act in 1989). Having regard to this, UKcorporator does not provide a company seal.
A document signed by a director and the company secretary of a company, or by two directors of a company, and expressed (in whatever form of words) to be executed by the company has the same effect as if executed under the common seal of the company - section 36A(4) of the Companies Act 1985.
However, a company may have a common seal if it wants one. Company seals can generally be obtained from rubber stamp makers at minimal cost and at short notice.
If the company chooses to have a common seal, it must have its name engraved in legible characters on the seal - section 350 of the Companies Act 1985. Section 39 of the Companies Act 1985 permits the use of a duplicate seal outside the United Kingdom, if authorised by the articles of association. Section 40 of the Act provides that a company, which has a common seal, may use a duplicate with the word 'Securities' on its face for sealing securities. These are known as 'official seals', however, they are of greatly reduced significance since the introduction in 1989 of section 36A, referred to above, which permits an alternative method for executing deeds etc. |
|
|