You must complete the Companies House form OS AP03 to appoint a secretary for an overseas company. This form is different from the form of AP03. The AP03 is for the appointment of a secretary for a limited company.
If you would like to appoint a corporate secretary for your overseas company then you must use the form OS AP04.
Information required to complete the form OS AP03
You would require the following information about your overseas company to complete the form OS AP03.
Section 1: Overseas company details
Your overseas company number. your overseas company number shall start with a prefix “FC” followed by six digits.
Your overseas company full name or alternative name currently registered with Companies House.
Section 2: Date of director’s appointment
You must specify the date of your new overseas company’s secretary being appointed.
Section 3: New secretary names
You must provide your new secretary’s full names including his/her former names. This includes maiden or married names which have been used for business purposes in the last two decades.
Married women do not require to give former names unless you have used your former names for business purposes previously.
You can use section 8 of this form if required.
Section 4: New director’s service address
You must provide a service address for your new secretary. The address needs not to be his/her home address. It cannot be a P O BOX address. If you do provide his/her home address as the service address then this would appear on the Companies House register and available for public inspection.
Section 5: Your secretary’s authority
You must disclose whether your new secretary has limited or unlimited authority. If you have indicated your secretary’s authority is limited, you must provide a brief description in the box provided in the form.
Concurrently, you must also disclose if your secretary can act alone or must act jointly. If your secretary is not authorised to act alone then you must provide names of the persons who are authorised to act jointly.
Section 6: UK establishment
You provide your overseas company’s branch name and registration number. Your branch number shall start with a prefix “BR” followed by six digits.
Section 7: Signature
You must sign the form. You must hold the position of either as the overseas company director, secretary or a permanent representative in order to sign the form OS AP03.
Where to send your OS AP03 form
You may send your completed OS AP03 form to one of the following Companies House offices.
England and Wales:
The Registrar of Companies, Companies House,
Crown Way, Cardiff, Wales, CF14 3UZ.
DX 33050 Cardiff.
Scotland:
The Registrar of Companies, Companies House,
Fourth floor, Edinburgh Quay 2,
139 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3 9FF.
DX ED235 Edinburgh 1
or LP – 4 Edinburgh 2 (Legal Post).
Northern Ireland:
The Registrar of Companies, Companies House,
Second Floor, The Linenhall, 32-38 Linenhall Street,
Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT2 8BG.
DX 481 N.R. Belfast 1.
Companies House filings during COVID-19 pandemic
Companies House created an interim paperless filing service to accept documents which would normally require a live signature. You can easily upload your documents to Companies House online platform.
You are also encouraged to use the WebFiling service to submit the following documents to Companies House.
- Confirmation statement
- Company accounts
- Events driven filings i.e director appointment or change of your registered office address.
- Closing down your company.
For this purpose, you would require your company’s authentication code to file online. The authentication code is the electronic equivalent of your company’s director(s) signatures. Hence, you must keep it safe.
If you require help with your company’s filings, contact Our accountants. They will be more than happy to assist you.
