Three Questions to Ask to Increase Performance and Proper Entity Management

NEW YORK, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The role of the corporate secretary has changed dramatically in the past few years.  With increased regulatory disclosures bringing increased scrutiny to corporate compliance, the corporate secretary position has become more complex. According to CT Corporation, a business of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services, and the leading provider of registered agent services, corporate and secured transactions and corporate compliance as required by state and federal law, there are three entity management questions that corporate secretaries will have to answer in order to thrive in their new roles.  

With large and small jurisdictions constantly changing their business laws throughout the country, it's more difficult than ever for large organizations to manage entities in multiple jurisdictions – and this arduous task is falling on the corporate secretary or similar roles within the organization. For every business law change that makes the national news, like the 2007 Arizona law stating that a business' licenses will be suspended or revoked if it knowingly hires unauthorized workers, there can be tens or hundreds of smaller changes that will not make the news, but may still threaten a business' ability to operate in a jurisdiction.

Due to these constant jurisdictional changes, the corporate secretary must follow steps to maximize efficiency as their roles change and become more diverse. Questions they need to ask include:

• Are systems talking to one another?  The corporate secretary needs to manage entity data, corporate transactions and compliance. Are these systems speaking to one another within the organization or is the corporate secretary tasked with entering data into multiple systems?
• What tasks can be delegated?  As the corporate secretary role becomes broader, the task of updating entity data can often be delegated to each subsidiary of the company. The corporate secretary can then evolve his or her role into managing the data rather than inputting it.
• Can the approval process be more efficient?  Once entity updates have been delegated to subsidiaries, does the corporate secretary have visibility into these updates to approve them before they are entered into the system?  Removing the task of approving changes by hand not only makes the process more efficient, but increases accuracy.

"Having visibility into the data of every company entity has become more important than ever as the worldwide economic downturn has trickled down to cities and towns across the globe and these smaller jurisdictions may look for additional funding through enforcing previously neglected business licensing laws," said Diane K.  Brown, executive vice president and general manager, CT Corporation.  "Corporate secretaries need to take advantage of every opportunity to increase data accuracy within their organization. To answer this need, CT Corporation provides the tools, service and expert guidance to assist the corporate secretary as their roles grow and attention to details becomes more critical."

Download the Entity Management 101 white paper to learn more about how corporate secretaries can adopt best practices for managing multiple entities.

About CT Corporation

CT Corporation is the highest quality provider of corporate compliance and productivity solutions.  Its offerings enable corporations and law firms to manage statutory representation for all their entities, complete corporate and secured transactions and maintain compliance as required by state and federal law.  For more information, visit the CTProComply Web site or follow @CTCorporation on Twitter.

CT, a Wolters Kluwer business, delivers the people, products and processes to drive transparency, ensure accountability and provide organized, accurate and actionable information for legal, financial and insurance professionals.  CT's products and services - and CT Corporation, CT Corsearch, CT Lien Solutions, CT Summation and CT TyMetrix – empower organizations to make better business decisions and be more efficient in today's highly transparent business environment.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer is a market-leading global information services company.  Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's leading, information-enabled tools and solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.

Wolters Kluwer has 2009 annual revenues of 3.4 billion euro ($4.8 billion/3.0 billion pounds Sterling), employs approximately 19,300 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.  Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.  Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.

Visit our website, YouTube or follow @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter for more information about our customers, market positions, brands, and organization.

SOURCE CT Corporation