Company Records required to be maintained
In terms of Section 24 of the Act, each company registered in South Africa must keep the following:
- a copy of its Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI);
- all amendments to the MoI and any company rules since the date of Incorporation;
- a detailed record of all current directors;
- a detailed record of all past directors going back 7 years after he/she retired from the board;
- copies of all:
a) reports presented at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the past 7 years;
b) Annual Financial Statements (AFS) for the past 7 years since it was issued;
c) accounting records maintained in whatever format as required in terms of the Act for the current plus the previous 7 completed financial years;
d) notices and minutes of all shareholders meetings, including:
i) all resolutions adopted by them, and;
ii) any document that was made available by the company to the shareholders in relation to each resolution for the past 7 years after such resolution was adopted;
iii) copies of any written communications sent generally by the company to all holders of any class of the company’s securities for the past 7 years;
iv) minutes of all meetings and resolutions of directors, directors committees and the audit committee for the past 7 years after such meeting or adoption of a resolution;
e) a securities register in the case of a for profit company, or a members’ register in the case of a non-profit company;
f) if applicable in terms of Section 85, records in regard to the appointment of the company secretary, auditor or audit committee.
ALL documents and records that a company is required to keep, must be kept either in written form. Alternatively it must be kept in a manner that allows that information to be converted into written form within a reasonable time.
These records must be maintained for seven years, or any longer period specified in any other legislation. If a company has existed for a shorter time only, it shall retain records for such shorter time.